The Game
by TormentingAllLemmings
Summary: A girl with no memories is brought to Shinra, who is quick to think of a way to further his own goals. However, he didn't count on one of his Turks forming his own plan. Their future has become uncertain. RenoOC
1. Report I

Summary: Time has passed since Sephiroth was defeated once again, and the world that was so torn is working to become whole. However, not everyone is able to piece their lives together so easily.

Warning: Some language so far, but nothing else.

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own AC or characters! I do own the plot and my OC, of course.

This is not my first FF story, but definitely my first AC one. It begins a little dark, but I believe the mood will generally be a lighter one. I'm trying something different with this story as well. I don't know if it's any good or not, but I certainly try hard on all my work.

Please review if you read. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.

* * *

Nothing seemed particularly alarming as he strode through the deserted forest. Of course, actually nothing much bothered him anymore. It was devoid of nature's usual tunes, as was par for the course, in a place like this, but something seemed out of the ordinary to him as he strode through the glowing trees. Not wrong, exactly.

But something was calling him.

"_No, that's not the right phrase. Almost like I need to be there,"_ he thought, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He quickened his steps slightly, though he hardly ever seemed to walk fast.

But something seemed to become more urgent as time passed.

"_It probably isn't anything,"_ he told himself sternly, but was unable to rid himself of the same feeling as before. He didn't know why he chose to come here at this particular time – perhaps it was fate or whatever people called it. But something was for certain.

He was supposed to be here, at this exact time.

Pausing in his strides, he looked around briefly, but still saw nothing unusual to his eyes. His instinct, however, told him a different story altogether. A presence was growing stronger in the Forgotten City, but didn't seem to be malevolent. At least, it wasn't yet.

He turned his head, and began to go in the direction of the spring, where Kadaj had gathered the children in what seemed like years before. It was actually only a year, but time passed differently for him. Narrowing his eyes, he moved closer to the small island, seeing ripples in the normally-stagnant and crystal-clear water. Arriving at the bank, he took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the gleaming brightness of the strange building that seemed to guard the spot before inspecting the pond itself.

To his surprise, he didn't find anything that unusual before him. Everything seemed perfectly in place, as if it was supposed to be like this.

As if there was supposed to be a young woman floating on her back in the water.

* * *

"This is a waste of time," he complained, following his partner through the tress. "Kadaj and those other guys are long gone. What's the point of coming here anyway?"

"Because we were told to make sure nothing else is in here, that's why."

"I think he just wants to keep us busy while they get to do something interesting," he snorted.

The other man only rolled his shaded eyes and continued his way forward. He abruptly stopped a moment later, however, causing the shorter young man to slam into his back.

"Hey!" he said indignantly, and looked over the broad shoulders to see what the matter was. Upon seeing a familiar figure before them carrying something that most definitely _wasn't_ familiar, his eyes widened in surprise. "It's you!"

* * *

"You called – again?" he asked dryly, arriving at the home in the mountains.

"Glad you could make it, buddy!" Reno greeted him with a slap on the back, which he shrugged off. "Oh, I'm hurt," the Turk said sarcastically, following the blond inside. "Anyway, the boss actually wanted to see you, not me."

"Good to see you again, Cloud," Rufus Shinra said calmly, and met Cloud's suspicious gaze with a smile.

"What do you want now?"

"I thought the situation required someone else to have a look," the man replied, still coolly, and Rude appeared from a nearby room.

"What about?"

"Come look for yourself," Shinra invited him, and led him to the door Rude had just left. Reno followed them casually, with Rude closing the door behind him.

The first thing Cloud noticed was a young woman sleeping on a bed, apparently almost comatose. Her hair was a shiny dark chestnut and loose around her shoulders, but everything else was obscured by a blanket.

"Who's this?" he demanded, and Shinra looked at with a small smile.

"I was hoping you could tell me."

"What is going on?" Cloud asked, becoming angry. "I'm not in the mood for more games!"

"Well, we found – _he_ found her – in the Forgotten City," Reno informed him, wincing a little at correcting himself with a gesture. Cloud followed his gaze, and his eyes met Vincent's red ones in surprise.

"Vincent?"

"I found her floating on her back, in the spring where Kadaj had brought the children," the vampire told him emotionlessly. "I felt something was different, and came upon her. And then these two found me, so I accompanied them here," he added, glancing at the two Turks near the door.

"So?" Cloud persisted, and narrowed his eyes when Shinra strode over to the bed.

"See this?" the man asked, lifting the girl's arm up from under the covers. "This is the geostigma." The warrior's eyes widened once more at seeing the marred skin on her forearm, and his met Shinra's accusingly.

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know," he replied simply, placing her arm back where it had been. "The water in the church didn't seem to have any effect – we tried it. And then she said something in her sleep – something which we thought would interest you."

"She's asleep?"

"Almost comatose," Vincent answered. "But sleeping. She moves around every once in a while, though, as if dreaming. But she hasn't woken up since I found her last night."

"What did she say that's so important?" Cloud asked, and Shinra again smiled thinly.

"Sephiroth."

"_What_?"

"You heard the boss," Reno shrugged.

"I was under the impression that all of the Jenova remnants had either been purified by that water, or killed," Shinra said, but Cloud sensed a tenseness underneath the man's apparent calm surface. "However, this girl appears to have the geostigma as bad as anyone had it – and she appeared out of nowhere."

"When I found her, in the water, the way the water moved it suggested she had fallen into it," the vampire supplied. "The ripples only moved out from her, not from the bank or anywhere else like it should if she had gone into the water."

"Are you suggesting she fell from the sky?" Cloud asked in disbelief, and Shinra laughed shortly.

"Nothing of the sort – however, there is something unusual about her, you must admit."

"If she has the stigma, of course," he agreed reluctantly, and moved closer to inspect the stranger. She appeared in her early twenties and her skin appeared a normal tone. "So, she hasn't woken up…"

"There's no indication she will, either," Shinra added with a sigh. "Unfortunately, we can't do anything with her in the meantime."

"So…you called me why again?"

"Well, she said Sephiroth," the former company leader explained. "I was hoping you would recognize her from SOLDIER, or as a remnant, or something like that."

"I've never seen her before," Cloud said, shaking his head. "Sor–" He stopped when she suddenly rolled onto her side and murmured something, but he was unable to understand what she said.

"We told you, she does that," Reno said, crossing his arms impatiently.

"I suppose there's no further reason for you to be here, if you aren't able to help us at the moment," Shinra decided, as Cloud headed toward the door. "We'll contact you if anything happens."

"I'm sure you will," Cloud replied, before closing the door behind him.

"Now what?" Reno asked. "If he doesn't know who she is, what do we do with her now?"

"We keep her here until she wakes up," their boss announced. "I have a feeling about her, for whatever reason. Let's observe her and see what happens."

"Can someone get her to let go?" Vincent asked patiently, as she grabbed a corner of his cloak firmly in her grip.

"Looks like she's gotten attached to you," Reno grinned, but quickly scuttled further away when the vampire glared at him. "All right, all right," the Turk muttered, and wrested with her fingers for a few moments before managing to release the vampire's cloak. "There, all better."

"I'll be going now," Vincent announced, sweeping out of the room and disappearing from view instantly.

"Reno, you keep an eye on her," Shinra ordered, and the Turk gaped at his boss pleadingly.

"Why me?" he squeaked, and Rude ignored his pleading gaze.

"Because you're the only one with free time," his boss explained, and Reno dropped in a chair with a grunt.

"Yeah, I bet I have free time," he muttered, shooting the still-sleeping girl a dirty look before sighing and closing his eyes, preparing to go to sleep.

* * *

Several hours later, Reno was startled awake when Rude strode into the room, and almost fell out of his chair as he tried to wake up.

"Hey!" he greeted his friend, and Rude only gazed calmly at him through the ever-present shades. "I was…resting," he said defensively.

"I was just here to see if you needed anything."

"Uh…some food'd be nice," Reno grinned, leaning back in the chair. "I'm starving."

"I'll be back with it, then," the other man nodded, and glanced at the sleeping girl. "Has she shown any signs of waking up?"

"I don't think," the red-head shrugged, crossing his arms behind his head. "I would've woken up."

"Hm," Rude eyed him for a moment before shrugging and leaving the room, returning a few moments later with some food for the guard. "Here you go. Just leave it by the door and someone will get it later," he told him, and Reno looked at him in surprise.

"What's with the service all of a sudden?" he asked suspiciously.

"Since you're the one guarding her, Sir told us to make sure you didn't need anything so you didn't have an excuse to take off," Rude told him dryly, and Reno chuckled ruefully.

"Oh well, too bad. Thanks, buddy."

"See you later," Rude agreed, leaving Reno once more alone with the young woman. Once he finished his food, Reno shifted around to gaze at her curiously, still wondering if she had managed to fake her sleep this entire time.

"Wonder who you are," he muttered, peering at her. He jumped when she muttered something in her sleep and stretched her arm out, grabbing hold of his jacket.

"Hey!" he yelped, and his eyes widened when he caught sight of a bare shoulder. It took a moment to register in the Turk's mind before he realized something, and pulled away from her with a yell.

"Now what's the matter, Reno?" Shinra asked calmly, surprising his lackey further.

"Si-sir!" Reno stammered, trying to regain his composure. "Sh-she's _naked_ under there!"

"I had Elena remove her clothing when she arrived to check for any further signs of the geostigma or any other markings," Shinra informed him smoothly, and Reno stared at him. "However, it would be too difficult for Elena to dress a limp young woman by herself, so I decided to leave her for the time being. I trust you didn't do anything?"

"Of course not!" Reno replied hotly, annoyed at his boss' quirked eyebrow. "I mean – no, sir," he added hastily, and the other man shook his head in amusement.

"I just came by to see what was the matter. No more yelling, Reno," he said calmly. "Unless something happens, of course. Contact someone when she wakes up – until then, try to keep a low profile."

"Sure…but why?" the Turk asked, unable to curb the curiousity his boss' orders roused in him.

"Until we're sure who this girl is, and what, there is no need to draw unwanted attention to ourselves," Shinra said. "I would rather not have involved Cloud or Vincent, but there was no helping it, considering the circumstances."

"I understand, sir," Reno nodded, sitting back down.

"All right, then," Shinra smiled thinly as he left the room, closing the door firmly behind him.

"Damn," the Turk muttered, crossing his legs and folding his arms stubbornly. "Now I'm really stuck here." Reno closed his eyes with a sigh and leaned his head back, deciding the best way to pass the time was another nap.

* * *

It was early that morning, even before the sky began to lighten, when Reno was roused from his sleep by unfamiliar noises nearby.

"Wha…huh…?" he mumbled, groggily looking around. He caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye, and he realized that the girl was struggling to sit up. "Hey, you're awake!" he noticed, and her head snapped to see him in shock.

"Who–" she began, before snatching the sheets and pulling them around her in embarrassment.

"I'm Reno," he introduced himself, looking around for his communicator. "Damn, now where'd it go?" he wondered, unaware of the girl watching him intently.

"What are you?" she asked, and he looked at her in surprise, finally finding his device.

"Huh? I'm a Turk," he said proudly, and turned his attention to his communicator. The girl remained silent as Reno reported to Rude, absently brushing her hair out of her face and looking around curiously. "Now…what's your name?" he asked, returning to her once he was finished.

"Mm?" she blinked, and he got back to his feet from under the desk, where his communicator had fallen.

"I asked, what's your name?" he repeated, and they both looked in surprise at the door as Shinra entered the room.

"Now, Reno, no interrogating her without someone else present," he admonished lightly, followed by the three other Turks. The girl looked more than a little intimidated, and pulled the sheets closer to her, as if in protection. Rufus seemed to notice her reaction and turned to her, giving her his best charming smile and bow. "My name is Rufus Shinra, and I'm the president of the Shinra corporation. These are my…employees, the Turks – Tseng, Elena, Rude, and you've already met Reno here," he introduced them, straightening with another smile. His attitude didn't seem to do anything to calm her, and her eyes continued to dart around nervously.

"Where am I?" she demanded, appearing slightly soothed by the presence of another woman, even if the blond didn't seem very friendly.

"At our current residence outside of Midgar," he replied, and a look of confusion crossed her face.

"Mid…gar?" she repeated. "Where's that?"

Reno openly gaped in surprise, and Shinra only barely managed to hide his own shock at her reaction.

"It's a city on our planet," he told her soothingly, and gestured to Elena. "Now, before we continue our conversation, Elena will bring you your clothes and you can get dressed."

"Th-thank you," she said quietly, turning bright red and staring down at her lap as the Turks began to file out, while Elena remained near the door. Reno turned to glance at the girl briefly before leaving himself, and noticed her muddy-green eyes watching after him curiously.

* * *

"I'm sure that's much better, isn't it?" Shinra asked conversationally, as the young woman followed Elena into the main room once she was done dressing herself.

"Yes, thank you," she nodded, appearing scared to raise her gaze above the floor. She wore a black vest that skimmed the floor with heeled boots, snug low-rise denim indigo pants, a black belt, a blue-gray shirt with a scoop neck and loose sleeves to her wrists, and a slim black choker on her throat. Any traces of the geostigma was covered by her outfit, and her slender figure was accentuated even more than the sheets had done.

"I'm sure you're hungry," he continued, beginning to walk into another room. "If you will, you can eat something here and I'll explain what we know as you do so."

"Thank you," she repeated, and followed the Turks and their boss into the kitchen, which doubled as a dining room in the mountain building. Reno noticed that her figure seemed to hide a lot of self-confidence and pride, but the way she carried herself seemed to suggest nothing better than a whipped dog.

"I've already introduced myself and my men," Shinra began, as they sat down at the table and Elena silently brought something over for the girl to eat before moving to her place beside Tseng. "I believe it's only appropriate you tell us your own name."

"It's Xoe," she said quietly, quickly swallowing the bite she had just taken.

"Xoe," Shinra repeated, gazing calmly at her, only making her more nervous. "That's an unusual name."

"I know."

"What do you know of Sephiroth and Jenova?" he asked abruptly, deciding to get right down to the matter. She looked at him in surprise, and the Turks stared at their commander, amazed he would be so blunt with a stranger.

"Wh-who?" she stammered, recovering from her surprise. "I've never heard the names before."

"_Really_," he said, and peered at her. "Then why did you react the way you did?"

"When you said the names – it seemed familiar for a second, but then it went away," she shrugged, finishing her meal. "I don't know why."

"Where did you come from?" he asked. Xoe remained silent, staring down at the table, and Shinra narrowed his eyes but decided not to pursue that topic further for the moment. "Do you know what happened that you were found in the Forgotten City?"

"Huh?" she blinked, and then seemed to recover some of her lost composure and eyed Shinra. "I think you might as well tell me who you are and how I came to be here before you try to get any more answers out of me."

"Hm," he smirked, and leaned back in his chair with a nod. "Deal. An acquaintance of mine found you floating in a pond in the Forgotten City, a place no one has been in for almost two years. I'll get to that later. But Reno and Rude here found him, and brought you both here. You've been in a deep sleep, almost comatose, for about three days now. And the marred areas of your skin bear what we call the geostigma, a disease that has been cured for almost two years."

"What happened two years ago?" she pressed suddenly, leaning forward in her chair intently. Shinra smirked slightly at her question and gazed at her in self-satisfaction.

* * *

Good? Bad?I'd appreciate any feedback on this. Please review.


	2. Report II

Summery; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

Thank you BelleDayNight and Maggz for your reviews - I really did want feedback, BDN, so thanks! (grin) I have a whole bunch of chapters waiting to be uploaded, just need some reviews...I believe I shall up the rating for future language and innuendo, just to be on the safe side. But I'm not planning on doing anything graphic, just so you all know. Please excuse if the city isn't Midgar - it was just a guess. If it isn't in AC, let me know so I can fix it. I actually have not read on FF7 or AC fanfic on this site - since this is my first story of this type, I wanted it to be completely from my own mind and fresh, and as little copied as possible. (If anything looks similar to another story, it's freak coincidence, I swear to you on a stack of Bibles. I hate people who copy!)

Please review if you read. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.

* * *

Once Rufus Shinra had finished explaining to her what had happened in their world two years ago, and the incidents that had preceded them two more years back, he watched the young woman before them intently, trying to catch any sign of realization or recognition. Instead, Xoe only listened to him with rapt attention, seemingly absorbing every word the man told her with complete attention, like a child hearing a fantastic story for the first time. 

"That really happened?" she asked in amazement, staring at him with wide eyes that seemed a little clearer to Reno.

"You really have no memory of it?" he realized in surprise, and she nodded in embarrassment.

"Now that I think about it, I don't remember having a family…or anything until I woke up," she admitted ruefully, sighing a little. "I can't recall anything before then – but the dreams I had when I was asleep…"

"What were they about?" Shinra pressed abruptly, and she took a moment to think.

"Uh…a man with long white hair and a black coat was in it, along with a woman with the same hair," she said, obviously concentrating hard to bring back the images that had flashed through her mind during her sleep. "Some other things…a bright light, someone yelling…I think something else, but I can't seem to bring it back," she said dejectedly, looking depressed.

"No need to worry," he assured her briskly. "That man was most likely Sephiroth – you spoke his name while you slept. The woman may have Jenova, the entity that came to this planet and caused so much grief. If you don't have any objections, I'd like to run some tests on a blood sample we could take from you – it might help us explain some things."

Xoe eyed the man suspiciously for a moment, and it was apparent to the Turks and Shinra that she was trying to decide why she should trust them. She must have settled the matter somehow, because she eventually nodded slowly, still looking unsure of the wisdom of her decision.

"All right – if it'll help," she agreed, and Reno noticed she lost her newfound confidence, once more assuming the air of a frightened animal trapped beyond a doubt.

"Elena will take the sample, then," Shinra nodded, obviously pleased as they got to their feet. "Meanwhile, Reno will accompany you for safety purposes while you're in the facility and nearby, as well as to answer any questions you may have."

"Thank you," Xoe nodded, shadowing Elena's stride as the blond woman led her out of the room to draw the blood. Tseng regarded his boss as Reno reluctantly followed the two women with a mutter, and appeared both amused and concerned.

"Are you sure that's wise, to send Reno?" he asked, trying not to sound as if he was questioning Shinra's decisions outright.

"She'll be fine," the man nodded calmly. "She won't try anything – for a while, at least. I'm certain of that. The young woman has either truly lost any memory she may have had, or she is a very good actress – which I doubt. And Reno needs to learn some discipline, and this provides the perfect opportunity. Rude, keep an eye on them through the communicators."

"Yes, sir," the tall man nodded, and his hand went to his device that hung at his side. Tseng still didn't look convinced, but decided not to pursue the matter.

* * *

"That's it," Elena said shortly, wrapping a thin bandage over the puncture wound in Xoe's discolored forearm, and straightened with the drawn blood in the needle in her hand. "I'll go take this to the lab – don't do anything stupid, Reno." 

"Yeah, yeah," he shrugged, and Xoe pulled back down her sleeve awkwardly, unsure what to do with Reno in the room. "Well?" he pressed, and she looked at him in surprise.

"Well what?"

"What do you want to do?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. "Anything you want to know? I'm in charge, after all – and there's nothing to do around here, that's for damn sure."

"I'd…well, I'd like to see outside," she decided, glancing out the window wistfully. "It seems so green outside…there are so many plants."

"We're in the mountains – well, the foothills, anyway," the Turk informed her with another shrug, getting to his feet. "C'mon, I'll take you on the grand tour if you want. Don't worry, I don't bite. Drink, sure, but I don't think I've bitten anyone yet," he joked, but she only eyed him nervously as she got up from her own seat and began to follow him outside.

* * *

"What do you think?" Reno asked, noticing she had been absolutely silent since he had taken her out into the forest. Turning around, he realized she was staring at the plant life in amazement, as if she had never seen it before. "It's not that impressive," he commented, glancing at a tree. "Just a bunch of damn weeds." 

"I think they're amazing," Xoe informed him, her voice suddenly sharp as she gazed at him. "Is it like this everywhere?"

"Nah," he shook his head, keeping a closer eye on her than he appeared to be as she moved around the trees curiously. "Just a few places – at least where I've seen."

"Have you been to many places?" she asked absently, absorbed in her inspection of the bark of a tree.

"Sure – the Turks run a lot of errands for our boss, Rufus Shinra," Reno nodded. "But at least this damn place is quiet."

"Yes…it is…" she agreed, a strange look crossing her face briefly. She wrinkled her nose for a second before shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts and fingered the edge of her vest nervously.

"What's the matter?" he asked, noticing her fidgeting.

"It's…nothing," she shook her head. "I just thought I remembered something for a second."

"Then why're you so jumpy?" he pointed out, and she looked down at her twitching hand in surprise before balling her fingers into a fist at her side, as if to keep her body from moving on it's own.

"I didn't realize I was doing it," she said quietly, and ran her fingers down the bark lightly. "What kinds of things do you do around here?" she asked curiously, turning her attention back to the strange young man that had been forced to be with her.

"Huh? Oh, uh…lots of things," he replied evasively, not really wanting to tell her they killed people who opposed their boss and destroyed enemies. "Business deals and that kind of thing. We're basically bodyguards and errand boys, in a way."

"Oh, I see," she nodded, apparently believing the roundabout lie. "It must be nice, to have a purpose set out for you," she commented, almost to herself.

"Not really," Reno shrugged. "Sometimes it gets boring, doing the same shit over and over again, after all. That's when I sneak out when I can."

"Are there lots of people around?" she pressed, losing interest in the tree and now peering at several plants beside her. "In the area, I mean. There doesn't seem to be any here."

"Just us," he agreed. "Well, in Midgar there's a lot. Maybe I'll take you sometime if Shinra says it's all right."

"I'd like to see people," she nodded, and then looked at him with an almost desperate longing on her face. "Do you…are…is there anything for me to learn with here?" she asked, turning red from embarrassment.

"What? You mean like books or something?" he realized in surprise, and blinked when she nodded eagerly. "I…think so, yeah. Come on, I can ask Rude where they all are," he told her, and she eagerly followed him back toward the house. _"What's with this chick?"_ Reno wondered to himself. _"She's like a little kid in some ways."

* * *

_

"She's driving me fucking insane," Reno complained to Rude three nights later. Xoe had become enamored of the extensive library Shinra had managed to accumulate, and had only torn herself away from the wealth of knowledge when her body began to protest against lack of sleep.

"What, the sleeping?" Elena asked, looking over the rim of her glass at him. "Shinra thinks that's because her body has to become used to being active again. Although I can't say reading all the time is very active."

"Not that!" the Turk exclaimed, dropping his forehead onto the counter with a pronounced 'whomp'. "All her _questions_! All I hear is 'what's this;' 'what's it like;' 'how come'? It's like dealing with a fucking toddler or something!"

"That's understandable," Rude pointed out. "She has no memories that we can tell, and it follows suit she'd want to learn about the world she's suddenly been brought into."

"You haven't been corrupting her, _have_ you, Reno?" Elena asked pointedly, and the young man glared at her.

"No!" he replied hotly, taking another deep draught of his drink.

"She's become quite attached to you, though," Tseng commented lightly. "Though I wonder at the wisdom of leaving you to take care of her at times."

"That was _not_ my fault," Reno glowered at the head Turk darkly before returning to his drink.

"I didn't say it was."

"Did her blood work show anything?" Rude asked calmly, and Elena shrugged.

"Some tests haven't been determined yet. But her blood seems to have…abnormalities in it, for some reason."

"Like what?" Reno asked with interest.

"It's thinner than most people, but she doesn't seem to be sick in any way," the blond Turk explained patiently. "And according to lab readings, the geostigma doesn't seem to be spreading as quickly as it would at the stage it seems to be in with her. In fact, it doesn't seem to be spreading at all – and Shinra noticed something odd about her lab work, but he didn't tell me."

"Hm," Rude pondered this for a moment in silence, while Reno only continued to drink.

"I wonder how long we'll have to keep her here," Tseng wondered. "How important is this girl to us, after all?"

"Well, Shinra must think she is if he's taking care of her like this," Reno retorted. "He's treating her like some orphaned puppy or something, and I'm the one lucky enough to watch it to make sure it doesn't hurt itself."

"Now she's an 'it'?" Elena noticed with amusement, the other Turks knowing Reno was becoming too drunk for his own good at that point. "Very interesting…"

"What're you sayin'?" he demanded, slurring his words slightly. The woman remained silent, and Rude firmly pulled Reno to his feet.

"You've had enough to drink – you need to be semi-functional, at least," he added, trying to guide his partner out of the room as Tseng and Elena laughed.

"Since when is Reno ever functional?" Elena asked coolly, sipping her own drink calmly. Rude ignored her, and Reno was too drunk to care as the big man swung the red-head over his shoulder and hauled him out of the room without another word.

"So…her blood is unusual. Is that it?" Tseng asked in disbelief. "Shinra must know something he's not telling us, if he's keeping her around like this."

"Since when does Shinra report to us?" Elena replied evenly, and the other man stared moodily at the counter.

"Never, of course. But it would be helpful to know what exactly we're supposed to be watching," he pointed out, and the woman couldn't help but agree with a curt nod.

* * *

"Thanks, Reno," Xoe ventured to say, as the Turk began to redo the bandages they kept on her geostigma the next morning. He only grunted, suffering from a major hangover, and didn't look up from her forearm. Xoe was able to fix the bandages on her calves herself, but it was too awkward for her to try to wrap the bandages on her arm – therefore, Reno had to do it. She decided not to say anything else, and he finished wrapping it in silence before leaning back on his heels and pulling her sleeve down. 

"There – all done," he told her curtly, resisting the urge to rub his head and crawl back into bed.

"Are you all right?" she asked curiously, and he eyed her patiently.

"Not really," he replied, but didn't elaborate and she didn't press him. Xoe had quickly learned not to push the Turk for answers if she didn't want him to lose his temper around her.

"I was going to see if you could take me to the city, but I'll go find something else in the library to read instead," she added quickly, getting to her feet and going to move past the still-crouching Reno. Although Xoe was indeed eager to read all she could, part of her enthusiasm was from a desire to keep her bodyguard happy – she had sensed he wasn't pleased about being stuck with her, but Xoe wanted to be friends with the stubborn Turk. She thought that if she didn't make him do much, he would stop being so grumpy, but she couldn't figure out why he wasn't acting any differently around her.

"Hey – is it quiet in there?" he asked abruptly, his gaze following her as she paused in surprise.

"Yeah."

"Maybe I'll join you," he grunted, pushing himself to his feet and passing her in a few strides. "Come on," he said impatiently, and Xoe nodded and followed him out the door.

* * *

"She's like a chick following a mother hen," Elena commented in dry amusement, as she and Tseng noticed Reno leading a confused-looking Xoe down the hall into the library and shutting the door, resisting the urge to slam it since he knew it would only cause him more pain. 

"That's an odd way of putting it," the Turk leader replied, and she shrugged. "More like a baby chick adopting an attack dog as its mother."

"Perhaps," she conceded, and suppressed a very un-Turk like giggle. "Is he still drunk?"

"I don't think so. Hangover."

"Oh. I actually feel kinda bad for Reno. How long is Sir going to keep him on this duty?" the blond continued, resuming her usual cool and collected air.

"I don't know."

* * *

The library was fairly dark, the atmosphere created by heavy drapes that covered most of the windows and obscured the sunlight trying to penetrate the glass. The books covered three out of four walls in the small room, with several chairs scattered against the last one. Reno had been slumped in one of the armchairs for quite a while, his head bent toward a book in his lap, but Xoe was unable to tell whether he was actually reading it or asleep. 

"Hey, Reno?" she asked hesitantly, but the Turk's head didn't move. He surprised her, however, when he actually answered.

"What?" he muttered.

"I was just wondering if you were actually reading," she told him, returning to her book. She missed the grin that played on the Turk's lips, despite his hangover, before he coughed awkwardly and turned a page – the first in an hour.

"Yeah. Why, did you want it?"

"No. I just thought you were asleep," Xoe shrugged, keeping her gaze on the words in front of her. "You just don't strike me as the reading type."

"And what type _do_ I strike you as?" he pressed, and she glanced at him, worried he was once again in a bad mood. To her further surprise, the redhead was regarding her with poorly-concealed amusement, and she frowned at him.

"Are you laughing at me?" she demanded, and he sat back with a shrug and grin.

"Heaven forbid," he protested, but continued to peer at her. "Well? You gonna answer me? I think it's only fair – I've been answering plenty of questions these past few days."

"Well…you strike me as a drinking, lazy, fighting type," she confessed, turning a bit red under his scrutiny. Reno suddenly laughed and shook his head, tossing the book aside. He winced when it hit the floor with a thump, rubbing his head.

"Well, maybe you have a point," he admitted with a sigh, and Xoe leaned towards him with a curious look.

"Does your head still hurt that bad?" she asked, and he nodded. "Do you have a fever?" she continued, and it was Reno's turn to be taken by surprise when she suddenly pressed her palm against his forehead in concern. "You don't feel warm…" she thought, totally unaware of how close she was to the Turk.

"I told you, I'm not…ow! Fuck!" Reno yelped, and jumped away from her as she snatched her hand back to her side.

"What happened?" she asked anxiously, and he turned to her with a glare.

"What the fuck was that for?" he demanded, and she blinked.

"What was what for?" she replied. "I didn't do anything!"

"You just made my head feel even worse!" he yelled at her, and clutched his head in pain. "Ah…damn it…I'm going to bad. Stay away from me!"

"Reno! I didn't –" Xoe began, but winced when the door was slammed in her face, and slumped into the seat. "I didn't do anything," she finished sadly, gazing at her hand helplessly. "What happened?" she wondered, fisting her hand in anger.

* * *

"What was all that yelling about?" Rude asked calmly, seeing Reno stalk past him toward the room they shared. 

"Shut up," the Turk growled, but Rude followed him into the room.

"Did something happen?"

"The bitch touched my head and it felt like it was gonna explode," Reno snapped, lying down on the bed with a groan. "And now I feel ever worse. Fuck off already."

"I'll go keep an eye on her," his friend offered, leaving the room before Reno could throw his tazer at him in frustration.

* * *

"So…Xoe finally displayed some sort of power?" Shinra mused, as Rude reported what the now-incapacitated Reno had told him a few hours earlier. "That's interesting…she made it worse, he said?" 

"That's apparently what happened, Sir," Rude nodded. "She's locked herself in the library and refuses to come out – she wouldn't eat anything, either. She feels terrible about doing that to Reno, but apparently has no idea what she did – or how."

"That's interesting," the young man repeated to himself, and glanced at Rude. "Make sure she eats something – it won't do any good for her to starve herself to death. And get Reno to apologize as soon as he's able to stand," he added, and Rude nodded.

"Yes, Sir," he agreed, and left the room when it was obvious he was dismissed.

"So…she _is_ displaying powers," Shinra thought to himself. "And destructive ones, at that. If she was a Jenova remnant like Kadaj and the others, the water would have cured her geostigma…but I'm sure this power is not the only one she possesses. Could she be lying about not knowing how she did it? Or perhaps she's something else…" The head of the Turks and the Shinra Corp. became lost in his thoughts, both enjoying this new puzzle and becoming frustrated at being unable to bend this young woman to his will.

* * *

And if Xoe seems to be acting like an idiot, remember what's happened to her! Or rather, what hasn't...I'm trying to use atmosphere more in the story than letting dialogue alone carry it, but I don't know if it's working. Please review if you read this, even if you don't like it! I would appreciate any kind of feedback. Except flames. Go away. 


	3. Report III

Summary; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

Thank you everyone who's reviewed! And to Senbou-suki for adding me to their fav list - how come it's all alert? I don't get it, but at least you guys are reading! Anyway, here's the third chapter. I'm pleased to see this got some readers, especially since it's my first one in this genre...enjoy!

Please review if you read. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful suggestions appreciated.

* * *

"Reno's just sulking. He's fine, believe me," Elena assured Xoe that night, having been moved into the young woman's room to make sure she didn't try to escape or anything equally drastic, since Reno was hiding in Rude's room – one they had shared until the Turk had been ordered to remain with Xoe at all times, even during the night. As a result, Elena was lying on the cot Reno usually occupied on the other side of the room, while Xoe was on her side in her own bed.

When her words didn't elicit any kind of reply, the blond Turk sighed and adjusted her eyes to the dark to see Xoe, and assured herself the figure wasn't a ruse.

"He'll be back out tomorrow morning, perfectly fine – maybe another hangover, but as productive as he can be," she added, but there still was answer. Sighing in annoyance, Elena closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep. Normally she slept lightly, able to wake at the slightest movement around her, but the Turk was more tired than usual, and something it the room seemed to lull her to sleep faster than her own body could.

Xoe glanced up when she was sure Elena was soundly asleep, aware that something unusual had caused the woman to fall asleep so deeply, but attributing it to luck. Quietly getting to her feet, she grabbed her black robe to cover her blue pajama pants and white shirt, and padded barefoot out of the room. Looking around furtively, and assured that no one was around, she tiptoed through the building until she found what she hoped was the room Reno was currently in.

* * *

Carefully opening the door, she was grateful to see that Rude was gone – she figured he was on guard duty – and that Reno was flat on his back on the cot, a washcloth over his eyes. Peering curiously at him, she shut the door behind her, the only noise a slight 'click' as it shut.

"Rude? That you?" he mumbled, his arms crossed behind his head. "Little early for you to be off duty, isn't it? Sir sent you to check up on me?"

"It's me – Xoe," she whispered, moving a little closer.

"_What_?" he demanded, the washcloth falling to the floor as he sat up in shock. "What're you doing here?" he pressed, eyeing her suspiciously.

"I wanted to apologize," she told him quietly. "I didn't mean to do whatever happened to you today," she said quickly, before he could throw her out. "I really didn't, honest!" She fell silent and waited for Reno to yell at her again. The silence blanketed them for a few long moments before he sighed ruefully, and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Ah, damn it," he grumbled, staring at the blankets at his feet. "I'm sorry too. I kinda freaked out at you – and it wasn't your fault, I guess. At least, you didn't do it purpose."

Xoe stared at him in amazement, which he noticed in annoyance and eyed her.

"What?"

"N-nothing," she said quickly, shaking her head. "Did Shinra tell you to apologize?"

"Huh? No!" he informed her rudely. "No one tells me to apologize to some girl, believe me. Can't you just…ah, fuck it. You should be getting to bed anyway – it's late."

"All right," she agreed, backing towards the door. "Night, Reno. I hope you feel better."

"Yeah," he nodded sharply, turning onto his back as Xoe left the room, closing the door behind her. Reno shrugged to himself under the blankets, unsure why he even gave a crap that she had come to apologize, but satisfied that she had.

* * *

"If you're feeling better, you should go apologize to Xoe," Rude informed him later that morning, as the sun rose past the mountains and promptly blinded a still-dreary Reno.

"I already did," he muttered, swinging his legs out of bed.

"You did? When?" his friend asked in shock, and earned a dirty look from the redhead.

"None of your business," he retorted, pulling on his shirt. "I did, all right? I'm going to get some coffee." With that, Reno grabbed his jacket as he strode out of the room, leaving a confused Rude to shake his head before replacing his shades in amusement and following his friend out of the room.

* * *

"Morning," Tseng greeted him calmly, sitting on the barstool with a coffee mug clasped in his hand. "Feel better?"

"Yeah," Reno nodded, his jacket slung over his shoulder as he went through with his usual fight to get the coffee machine to work for him. Something about machines was hostile to the poor redhead, and the coffee machine in particular seemed to hold a certain animosity toward the Turk, who was currently threatening it with his tazer.

"Look who's up," Elena commented dryly, striding into the room and sitting down, she and Tseng watching in calm amusement his struggles. "Ready to go back to duty?"

"Very funny," the redhead grunted, finally succeeding in beating the machine into submission – as they knew he would, since they went through this every morning. "Where's Sir?"

"He had to go out – Rude went with him," Tseng informed him. "Elena and I have some business to take care of, so we'll be gone for a few days. That leaves the house in your care – try not to destroy it," he added, getting to his feet and emptying his mug into the sink. "We should get going," he said, addressing Elena without giving a non-caffeinated Reno a chance to absorb this information.

"Wait!" he called, and realized the two Turks were already gone. "Damn it," he sighed, draining his half-filled mug with one gulp and tossing it into the sink. Luckily, the mugs were made of plaster, and didn't break that easily. "Better go find her before something happens," he muttered, slowly getting to his feet with a groan.

* * *

"Oh, good morning," Xoe said with a smile, lifting her face to see who was coming into the library and realizing with Reno. "Are Tseng and Elena already gone?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Yeah – Rude went with Sir somewhere," he added. "So it's just you and me. Want to go into the city?"

"Really?" she asked in excitement, the book dropping from her hands to her lap and sliding to the floor with a 'whump'. "You feel okay?" she added cautiously, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's too boring around here anyway," he shrugged, secretly wondering whether Shinra would mind him leaving the building empty and deciding to just activate the maximum level on the security system they had installed. With that in place, not even an ant could come within three feet of the foundation without being fried. "Do you need your arm bandaged?" he remembered, but she shook her head.

"Elena did it for me this morning," Xoe told him, getting up and returning the book to its shelf. "I'm good to go."

"All right, then," he nodded, rising to his own feet and picking up his jacket – which he still hadn't put on. "Come on, then – I'll show you around and introduce you to some people we know."

"Friends of yours?" she asked with a grin, following the Turk from the room.

"…not exactly," he said finally, taking a moment to imagine Cloud's reaction if he found out Reno had classified him as the Turks' 'friend'. "Just some people we've worked with in the past. Same thing for us, though."

"Oh," she blinked, and shrugged to herself as Reno took a moment to enter some codes into the program that stood near the door in a stark-white container. She waited quietly until he finished, and he glanced over his shoulder at her nervously.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"You're too quiet," he informed her. "I thought you'd be…I dunno, happier or something. I thought you didn't shut up if you were excited."

"I don't want to give you another headache," she told him, and he sighed.

"Whatever. Lock the door behind you," he ordered, taking the stairs three at a time as she secured the door behind them.

"Hey! Reno, where'd you go?" she called, turning around and finding the Turk gone. "Reno!" she called again, worry growing inside her.

"Over here!" he yelled back, and she jumped as a motor roared up to the bottom of the staircase. "What, you thought we were gonna walk all the way?" he asked with a grin, his jacket finally on and a helmet on his head, his long ponytail hanging out of it.

"I didn't think about it," she shrugged, approaching the motorcycle cautiously. "What is it?"

"Huh?" It was the Turk's turn to blink in surprise before he rolled his eyes – unseen behind the dark lens of the helmet. "It's called a motorcycle – we ride it places," he explained briefly, shifting around on the seat. "Here, I was gonna have you ride behind, but if you don't even know what it is…better get in front of me." Xoe nodded and swung her legs over the seat, and looked behind her at Reno, obviously unsure what to do now.

"Put this on," he ordered, handing her a helmet similar to his. "It'll protect you from head injuries if something happens," he added before she could ask, and made sure the helmet was secure once she had gotten it on. "Now, hold on to the handles," he continued, and noticed how small her hands seemed next to his on the handles, and suddenly placed his hands securely over hers. "To make sure you don't slip," he explained awkwardly, not sure why he had just done that but deciding it would be more embarrassing to pull his hands away. "Hold on tight!" he said loudly, as he started the engine back up.

Xoe shrieked as he suddenly shot off away from the building, and as they reached the winding pavement that stretched down the mountainside down to the desert they had to cross to get to the city, Reno felt her stiffen nervously.

"Calm down. Geez, relax," he sighed, and removed his left hand from the handlebars without another word.

"What are you –" she began anxiously, before he wrapped his arm securely around her waist.

"I can drive this thing blindfolded, much less with one damn hand," he assured her with a grin. "So stop being so nervous and enjoy the ride. I'm not gonna let you get hurt – Sir'll kill me, after all." Xoe nodded and leaned further against the Turk, still stiff but beginning to calm down as she focused on the scenery buzzing by.

* * *

She soon became aware that she was enjoying the high speeds they were traveling at – and the feel of his arm around her, but was unsure whether it was for security reasons or something else. Pushing the thoughts out of her mind, she shook her head to clear it and gazed at the trees, which were quickly thinning and soon disappeared as they reached the desert.

"Enjoying the ride?" Reno asked, his question snapping her out of her daze. "You kinda seem to be zoning out."

"I just…something felt familiar for a moment, that's all," she shrugged, and fell silent. Reno began to say something, but his thoughts turned into a swear and the motorcycle swung around in a full circle.

"Damn it!" he yelled, releasing his grip on Xoe and pulling out his tazer, which expanded to a length of three feet and crackled with electricity.

"What's the matter?" she asked anxiously, once more holding on to the handles.

"Something's coming," he told her grimly, stalling the engine in an effort to see what was there. Soon enough, a desert beast lunged out at them from a nearby cliff, and Reno sped off faster than before, managing to drive while still looking around. "See those buildings there?" he asked, referring to the rising towers of Midgar in the distance.

"Y-yes."

"That's Midgar – once we hit the borders we'll be fine. Just sit still and let me concentrate," he ordered tersely, and she nodded, all-too aware of the pounding of padded feet behind them, which were quickly drawing closer. Within minutes, the large creature was running alongside the cycle, and growled at them as it tried to snap at their legs. Reno swerved tightly, avoiding the bite, and swung his tazer faster than Xoe could see, hitting it directly in the eye. With a howl of pain the creature slowed its pace, and he grinned.

"Hah! That'll teach the bastard," he said in satisfaction, but Xoe was suddenly aware of a great danger behind them.

"Reno!" she yelled, and he looked around frantically, only to see the large beast lunging at them, having jumped from a rock that rose up from the ground.

"Shit!" he cried, doing his best to avoid the attack. Xoe closed her eyes and braced for the imminent crash, but looked around when Reno whistled in amazement. "Damn!" he said in shock, and her eyes widened as they watched the wound inflicted by Reno on its eye suddenly begin to expand, eating the flesh away from the skull. She quickly averted her gaze, feeling a little sick, but was aware of the 'thud' as the creature hit the ground. Reno slowed the cycle and circled it, inspecting the damage.

"Damn – it's dead, all right," he nodded, his arm once more securing her to him. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah," she nodded, and he noticed through the dark lenses obscuring both their faces how pale she was.

"You look like you're going to be sick," he commented, and pulled away from the thing and continued toward Midgar. "I wonder what the hell happened – my tazer sure as hell doesn't do _that_. I wonder if there's a virus going around the animals?"

"Are we almost there?" she asked quietly, and Reno nodded, a little shook up from the encounter but not wanting to admit it.

"Yeah – a few more minutes, at this speed," he noticed, and she nodded in relief. "You sure you're all right?" he checked, not wanting her to faint on him.

"I'll be fine," she assured him, shaking her head to rid it of the sudden pain in it. "I just have a headache all of a sudden."

"Probably shock," he nodded. "Don't worry – we'll get something for it once we hit town."

* * *

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," Tifa commented dryly, as Reno and Xoe entered the bar, the cycle parked outside. "What brings you here, Reno? Cloud's out on a delivery – who's this?" she asked, suddenly noticing the young woman beside a haggard-looking Reno.

"This is Xoe – she's staying with us for a while," he explained without elaboration, the Turks having been told not to divulge anything about Xoe to anyone, Cloud and Vincent being the only ones who knew about her. He ignored Tifa's raised eyebrow, and glared at her. "Do you have anything for a headache? We were attacked on our way here by some damn desert cat."

"Sure," she nodded sympathetically, and decided not to press further at the moment. "Come on – it's in the back room," she added, and they followed her from the main bar room into a smaller office. "Here you go," she said after a few moments, digging around until she found the pills. "Just swallow," she added, and Reno eyed her.

"How stupid do you think I am?" he demanded. Tifa remained silent and Xoe grinned, and the Turk only groaned. "Thanks. Xoe, this is Tifa," he introduced them finally, after they took the pills. "She's one of the ones I mentioned."

"Hope he didn't say too much," Tifa grinned, shaking Xoe's hand and catching a glimpse of the bandage underneath her sleeve. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Xoe nodded, pulling her hand back quickly. Shinra had made it clear that it was unusual to have the stigma at all, and she didn't want more attention than she was already stuck with from the Turks.

"If you say so," the young woman shrugged, and looked back to Reno. "So, what're you doing here?"

"Just decided to drop by," he replied calmly. "I'm showing Xoe around Midgar – she's never been here."

"Really?" Tifa asked in surprise. "Where are you from, Xoe?"

"Over by the ranch," Reno said quickly as Xoe hesitated, referring to the large chocobo ranch miles away and across the sea. "She's visiting."

"I see," the fighter agreed without comment, but their attitudes didn't go unnoticed by her. "Well, I have a bar to run, so unless you need to leave a message for Cloud…?"

"Oh, yeah, I was supposed to do that, actually," he remembered with a start, and dug through his pockets before finding a folded paper. "Just give this to him – Sir sent it," he added, handing the paper to Tifa. "Thanks," he waved, moving toward the door, Xoe close behind.

"All right – I'll be sure he gets it," Tifa nodded, as the two left the bar and she heard them drove off. Frowning to herself, she pocketed the paper for safekeeping and tapped her finger on the counter. "I wonder who that girl is? Shinra must want something with her…oh well, I'm not getting involved again with those guys," she said firmly, shaking her head and returning to her work.

* * *

"Sir told me to get you some clothes – you need at least a change when the weather heats up," Reno told her, as they slowly rode through the streets. "Elena told me a place to go – I'm apparently their errand-boy," he added dryly, but grinned.

"Really?" she asked in surprise, still in front of the Turk. He was actually she would fall off if she sat behind him, even if she held on to him, and decided not to take any chances, even though they were going so slowly.

"Yep," he nodded, and glanced around. "It's around here somewhere…ah! Knew I'd miss it," he sighed, as he promptly drove by the store he had been directed to. "Damn it, that figures," he muttered, turning the machine around easily and heading back. "Once you're done we can head back if you want," he offered, and Xoe shrugged. "All right, we'll figure it out when we're done," he agreed, pulling up to the store.

* * *

"Hungry?" he asked, as they exited the store not that much later. Xoe carried a bag by her side, which Reno took and deposited into a compartment in the back of the cycle, and she thought for a moment before nodding.

"Actually, yeah," she agreed, and he grinned.

"Good – because I'm starving," he told her, starting the engine once they were seated. "There's a good bar not far from here."

"Tifa's?" Xoe asked, and he shook his head.

"Nope – she doesn't like us much," he informed her. "Long story. But this place is pretty damn good. Don't worry – I'll hold off the drinking. I'm the one that has to drive us home, after all."

"Thanks so much," she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Reno blinked in surprise – it was the first time she had ever used such a tone with any of them – before laughing and shaking his head.

"Fine, we'll go there for lunch," he agreed, turning down a side street and looking forward to returning once more to his favorite spot to relax and escape the life of a Turk.

* * *

Yeah, a little fluff. And I don't know if Reno's tazer does all that...it just sounded cool! (grin) Sorry. Please review!


	4. Report IV

Summary; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

Thanks to all who reviewed and read the last chapter. I didn't expect this to become one of my main ones, but I'm spending more time on it than I thought I was going to do. I'm enjoying it as well! They're fun to write, and more complicated than some I've done.

Please review if you read. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.

* * *

"Took you long enough," he joked, poking fun at the server as their food was brought to them not too later after they had ordered.

"Yeah, yeah, hope you choke," the young man replied. Apparently, Reno was known quite well at the establishment, and Xoe could only assume that the majority of the rest of the people in the bar were regulars as well.

"This is good!" she said, trying the sandwich Reno had ordered for her.

"Told you," he retorted, hungrily tearing into his own food. His jacket hanging off his seat and his tazer concealed, coupled with his current mood, Xoe found it hard to believe that Reno was still a Turk, and the one who usually walked around grumpy. "What?" the redhead asked curiously, looking up from his plate and noticing her gaze. Xoe started and shook her head, returning to her own meal.

"Nothing. Just thinking," she replied, taking another bite of the food. Reno shrugged, and glanced back to her when she asked a question. "Do people around here know you're a Turk?"

"Some do," he nodded. "Kinda hard not to, with the suit and all. But as long as trouble doesn't follow us around, they don't much mind. I don't go around bragging about it, though," he added, and Xoe understood the implied caution.

"This place is really big," she said, referring to the city.

"Yeah – rebuilding is a bitch, but it's worth it," he agreed, finishing off his meal with a contended sigh. "Ah…that was pretty damn good," he told her, and she nodded in agreement, almost done with her own food. "Don't worry about rushing – I eat quick, and it's early," he added, noticing her haste.

"Sure thing," she nodded again, slowing down her pace. Reno leaned back with his eyes closed, digesting his meal in peace. He dozed after a few minutes, but one eye shot open in annoyance when someone kicked his leg underneath the table. "Hey –" he began, but narrowed his eyes when he saw a stranger leaning down, talking to a nervous-looking Xoe with a leer on his face. He had a firm grip on her arm, and Reno leaned back to see what the idiot what do, since he hadn't noticed the Turk across the table – or had thought he was too drunk to wake up.

"Hey, come on, I can show you around the entire city," the man coaxed her, but Xoe shook her head.

"Sorry, but I don't –"

"It's not polite to refuse someone when they offer to help, you know," the man persisted, and suddenly dragged Xoe to her feet with a yank. She cried out in surprise and slight pain, and Reno lazily got to his feet, hands by his sides.

"Last I checked, it's not polite to force a woman to go with you, either," he informed the man, a look in his eye Xoe hadn't seen before. She would eventually find out that it was a look found only in the Turks, a look in their eyes that was only caused when they were ready to kill.

"And who do you think you are, you little runt?" the man demanded. Reno was by no means short, as Xoe only reached his shoulder, but the man towered well over six feet, bigger than Rude. The regulars in the bar who were aware of Reno's occupation winced at the challenge, knowing the young man could easily dispose of the aggressor.

"Name's Reno," the redhead replied casually. "And I'd appreciate it if you let her go."

"What? Is she your woman or something?" the man demanded with a lewd look toward Xoe, who tried to pull out of his grasp. "Well, maybe she's tired of your lovin' and needs a real man to –" The big man didn't get any farther than that, because Reno had had enough at that point. Moving quicker than the observers could see, he pulled out his tazer and it connected with the man's head with a sickening crack. Xoe stepped back as the man dropped to the ground, unconscious, and Reno moved to stand next to her, his eyes once more back to normal.

"He's not dead!" he called to bartender, who shook his head.

"I wish ya'd stop laying out people in mah bar, Reno," he chastised the Turk, who shrugged with a smirk.

"I'll try to go easy on the next one," he said by way of apology, and turned to Xoe. "Ready to leave?"

"Yeah," she nodded, unable to rid her mind of the uneasy feeling she had gotten at seeing that strange look in the cheerful young man's eyes.

"Good. Stick it on my tab, big guy!" Reno ordered, and the bartender sighed as two men, apparently serving as bodyguards for the bar, dragged the unconscious man out the back.

"What else is new wit' ya?" he replied with a shake of his head. "Next time, don' be bringin' pretty girls in wit' ya."

"I'll remember that," Reno winked, his hand on Xoe's shoulder and jacket slung over his own shoulder as he guided her out of the bar, tazer still extended and swinging threateningly at anyone who cast a gaze her way.

* * *

"Sorry about that," Xoe apologized, as they headed out of Midgar and back to the Turk's base.

"Huh? For what?" he asked in surprise.

"For causing trouble in the bar," she told him, but he laughed.

"That?" he grinned, and she turned to look at him curiously. "That wasn't your fault, Xoe. Besides, it was pretty fun to beat the crap out of that guy – even it if _was_ too easy," he added, and she could have sworn she heard disappointment in his voice. With his next words, she was positive. "Next time, try to pick someone I can have some fun with, okay?"

"You enjoyed that!" she accused in amusement, and he shrugged.

"Guilty as charged, I suppose," he agreed, and glanced around as they entered the desert. "Doesn't look like we'll be having any trouble – that thing's carcass'll warn any other predators nearby. The only things around'll be lousy scavengers – and they won't bother us."

"Sure?"

"Positive," he said firmly, and she sighed in relief.

"Good."

"What a day for your first trip outside, huh?" he mentioned a few minutes later. "Pretty exciting."

"A little _too_ exciting for me," she informed him dryly, but he only smirked.

"You'll get used to it, being around us. We seem to attract trouble – although, Tseng keeps saying I'm more trouble than all of them combined," he added with a frown, and shot Xoe a dirty look when she suddenly burst out laughing. "Hey! Don't tell me you agree with _them_!" he protested, and she shook.

"You just sound…so funny," she told him, catching her breath. "Sorry, Reno."

"Huh. So I'm good for laughs, am I?" he replied, pretending to be insulted. Xoe could tell by his tone – having had the Turk become annoyed at her quite a bit – that he wasn't really mad at her, and released her tight grip from the handle to pat his arm that was around her waist sympathetically.

"Poor Reno – I'll stop picking on you if you're going to sulk," she said teasingly, and he groaned.

"Very funny. I don't need your pity."

"Elena's right – you _do_ pout a lot."

"Hey!"

As they continued the drive back to the base – Reno going a little slower since he had downed several drinks while at the bar – they were apparently unaware that the tension between them had lightened considerably, and they were more at ease with each other than they had previously been.

* * *

"Huh?"

"I _said_, Reno dropped by and said to give this to you – Shinra apparently sent it," Tifa repeated, waving the paper in front of a confused Cloud's face.

"Well, wait until I'm in the door to throw it at me," he said good-naturedly, taking the paper and unfolding it to read. His eyes narrowed as he read the note, and Tifa watched him intently.

"So?"

"So what?"

"What'd it say?" she pressed, but the blond only grunted and shoved the note in his pocket.

"Not much."

"_Cloud_!"

"It's nothing," he argued, shrugging a little. "Just some business I have to take care of, that's all. So stop being so annoying already."

"Oh, annoying, am I?" she quirked an eyebrow at him, and playfully punched him in the arm. "You're the one that goes off for weeks at a time on deliveries that should only take a few days!"

"Eh," he shrugged again, and she shook her head.

"Fine, don't tell me then. But don't go getting yourself into all kinds of trouble – I'm not going to bail you out again, you know," she chastised him, waving her finger in front of his amused face.

"Fine, fine, I won't," he agreed, with a grin. "Now, can I go, or what?"

* * *

""Ugh, I've got sand everywhere," Xoe grumbled, as they pulled up to the building. "It's really uncomfortable!" she protested, as Reno started laughing at her expression.

"I've had worse," he informed her with a shrug, deactivating the system with a control on his tazer so they didn't get fried. "You can work the shower, can't you?"

"Elena showed me," she nodded, as she followed him up the winding stairs to the door. Reno grunted, reminded that Xoe wasn't an ordinary young woman, and pushed the door open rather roughly. Xoe peered at him curiously, but he dropped her bag on the floor and headed for the bar.

"I'll be in here if ya need me," he informed her curtly. She stared after him in surprise, completely in the relative dark why he was suddenly so moody, before picking up her bag and silently trudging toward the bathroom she and Elena had used, the mood considerably dampened.

Sitting on the barstool, Reno felt a little guilty about the way he was acting, but was annoyed at himself for forgetting Xoe was merely another assignment, and grudgingly tipped his head back to down another shot.

* * *

"I need you to go and see what they're up to," he informed his companion coolly. "You're the best one to go in without being noticed, after all."

"All right," the other man nodded curtly, and disappeared into the shadows without another word. The first man nodded to himself in satisfaction and looked around, waiting impatiently for the others to arrive.

* * *

"I wonder what got into Reno," Xoe wondered to herself, as she slowly stripped off her clothes in the tiled bathroom. It was a stark white, softened only by touches of pale blues and grays, but she hardly paid attention to her surroundings while she continued to talk to herself. "I didn't think I said anything weird…I guess he really just is moody like Elena said," she shrugged, trying to dismiss his behavior from her mind.

Turning the water on and watching it shoot out from the showerhead in fascination, she ran her hand through her hair and stepped into the stall, pulling the curtain shut behind her. Sighing deeply as the water ran off her body, she reached for the squeegee Elena had given her and began to cleanse herself, not paying attention to the small window that looked into the bathroom.

Until something caught her glance, and then she did the first thing that came to mind.

She screamed, naturally.

* * *

As foggy as his mind may have been, and as relaxed as he may have become, Reno instantly shot from the room as the scream reached his ears, tazer in hand as he burst into the room – without thinking, of course.

* * *

"Reno!" Xoe protested in surprise, clutching a towel to herself in an attempt to save her modesty. Now, Reno blamed his actions on the alcohol in his system, but alcohol aside, the only thing that registered in the Turk's mind was that Xoe was naked in front of him, dripping wet and only a few feet away. "You pervert!" she yelled, catching his stare, and threw a soap bar at him, promptly knocking him out of his daze.

"Ah…what the hell'd ya scream for?" he demanded, rubbing his head more in protest than anything else.

"I saw something outside the window!" she told him, pointing to the window.

"Out _there_?" he blinked in surprise, laughing a little. "We're four stories high – it was probably just a bird."

"It wasn't!" she insisted, and gasped as she looked behind Reno. "Re-Reno…" she stammered, backing up a bit. Reno took a moment to register her reaction before reluctantly turning around, positive he wasn't going to like what he was going to see.

It wasn't as bad as he thought it was, but it was still pretty damn scary to the poor Turk, who jumped backward, almost hitting Xoe.

"Y-you!"

* * *

"You wanted to see me?" the swordsman stated, meeting Shinra and Rude as they pulled up to the entrance of the Forgotten City.

"Ah, I'm glad you could come," Shinra said in pleasure, smiling at the solemn blond before him.

"What do you want?" Cloud demanded, taking Rude in at a glance. "And how come there's only him here? I have better things to be doing."

"I needed someone to show me around here," the man replied. "Rude and Reno know the area well, but I wanted to be assured a quick visit. So I asked you – Vincent wouldn't have come, obviously."

"I wouldn't blame him," the young man agreed with a sneer. "So, you want to see where Vincent found that girl? Why?"

"To see if there is anything indicative of her origins, of course," Shinra replied smoothly, and Cloud peered at him. "I assure you, your suspicions are unfounded. I am merely curious as to why she bears the geostigma after all this time, and why she has no memory of her past."

"Sure," Cloud grunted, but reluctantly began to lead the two through the forest. "What are you up to, Shinra? You're sure as hell not helping her out of the goodness of your heart."

"Of course not," he agreed pleasantly, "I am, as I said, interested as to why she has the geostigma. Also, her flashes of memory appear to be connected to Sephiroth and Jenova, and I would like to know why. I was under the impression Kadaj and his gang were the only remnants like that. And not even they bore the stigma."

"So, you're saying you don't think she's a remnant," the blond guessed, and Shinra nodded.

"That is my assumption, yes. She caused Reno quite a headache somehow, from what I understand, and I'm curious as to how that is possible."

"Hmph."

* * *

"Whaddya mean, Cloud sent you?" Reno demanded, the black-haired figure before them looking a bit amused.

"It appears it's a good thing I came," he responded, and both turned red as they realized the situation.

"Get out, both of you!" Xoe commanded, finally getting her thoughts together and forcing them out of the room so she could dress.

"So…" Reno pressed, and the figure shrugged. "C'mon, Vincent, what're you doing here?"

"Shinra wanted to meet with Cloud in the Forgotten City – I assume to inspect the area I found her," Vincent replied, nodding toward Xoe, who appeared with her hair toweled out and wearing her jeans and a shirt. "He knew I wouldn't help him. Cloud's suspicious of him, naturally, so he asked me to go and make sure she was still all right."

"Of course," Reno retorted indignantly, as they moved from the hallway to the living room, where they sat down. "What'd ya think we were gonna do with her?"

"I don't know," he replied, and turned to inspect Xoe, who gazed at him nervously.

"This is Vincent – he's an acquaintance," the Turk introduced him sharply, obviously annoyed at the intruder. "He's the one that found you and brought you here."

"I didn't have a choice," Vincent corrected. "I sensed your presence in that place – do you have any idea why?"

"No…" she replied, shaking her head nervously. "I mean, I don't even remember you or anything from there…"

"I see," Vincent nodded. Getting to his feet, his cloak swirled around ominously, and he fixed Reno with a stern gaze. "I won't intrude any further – I suggest you heighten security around this place, however."

"It's just fine!" Reno said hotly. "You'd be able to get through any damn system!"

"I don't have a reason to stay further – but I'll return eventually, just to make sure you're keeping your end of the bargain," the figure continued, and Reno gulped before he could himself and nodded. "Good to see the Turks still know how to follow orders," Vincent finished, and nodded briefly to Xoe. "Don't worry, they won't do anything to you."

"They weren't be–" she tried to protest, but the rumored vampire vanished before she could finish. "Is he…human?" she asked faintly, sitting back down.

"It's complicated," Reno told her, obviously annoyed as hell over the encounter. "Damn Vincent…who does he think he is, anyway? I don't take orders from him…"

"Why did he seem to think the Turks would do something to me?" Xoe asked, coming to her senses. "Or is that complicated too?"

"We're old enemies," the Turk admitted. "But we've been forced to work together a bit…and he doesn't like Sir – Shinra."

"Is that all?" she prodded, but Reno only shrugged. "Fine. I need to go finish my shower," she sighed, shaking her wet hair despondently. "And now this shirt's all wet…this is ridiculous."

"Yeah," he agreed, but she didn't respond as she headed back to the bathroom. "Damn it…I'll have to tell Sir this as soon as possible," he grumbled, sighing to himself when he thought of his boss' reaction. "Damn."

* * *

Interesting? I wanted to bring Cloud and Vincent back in - after all, they were in before! And I hate feeling like I used characters just because it was convienant. But Vincent will be playing a much bigger part, so enjoy! Please review.


	5. Report V

Summary; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

Thanks for all the reviews from the last chapter, guys! I'm still surprised this story has some readers...ah well. (grin) I'm enjoying this - Reno is da man! There's more Vincent apperances in here for all of you fangirls, and some more fluff. Sorry for the update wait - issues. (sighs) And I do like all of the Turks - even Elena, I just enjoy making her character a bit more...well, bitchy, I guess. But she has her good points like all of them.

Anyway, please review! Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.

* * *

"So, this is the place Vincent found her?" Shinra asked with interest, as they arrived at the body of water. Cloud remained silent, his arms crossed and his eyes watching Shinra's movements suspiciously. "Interesting…there's never been any kind of power here before, except when Kadaj brought the remnants here. Perhaps that's why she appeared here…drawn to the power?"

"Sir?" Rude broke into his boss' musings as his communicator flashed in his hand.

"Yes?"

"Reno's sending a message – he says Vincent stopped by at the request of Cloud and got past the security without it going off."

"Hm. Really?" Shinra checked pointedly, turning to Cloud, who only met his gaze calmly.

"He also says that he hopes we get back soon," Rude added, before returning his communicator to his pocket.

"You sent Vincent Valentine to sneak into my house and check up on the young woman, as if she was being mistreated?" Shinra questioned, turning to Cloud once more. The swordsman was able to tell the other man was angry, but neither was about to lose their cool.

"One can never be sure with you, Shinra," Cloud replied coolly. "And Vincent was the one who found her, after all. He's entitled to ensure her safety."

"Has he expressed an interest in her?" the other man asked, suddenly appearing interested. Cloud had no wish to let the businessman know that Vincent actually _had_ seemed worried about the girl, and merely grunted.

"He doesn't tell me everything."

"I see," Shinra nodded, remaining silent for several moments before moving past Cloud and away from the statue. "Rude, we're done here. We'll leave Cloud alone now."

"Yes, sir," the man nodded, following his boss with a quick glance at the sullen-looking blond.

* * *

"What are we doing out here, anyway?" Elena griped, looking out of the helicopter as they flew over the mountain ranges. Several years ago, she would never have spoken like that, especially around Tseng, but she had become more confident in both her abilities and position as a Turk. "Isn't this around the place Meteor fell to Earth?"

"Yes," Tseng nodded, hands firmly on the controls. "Shinra wants us to inspect the perimeter and see if there are any remains of the Meteor."

"Why?" she asked in surprise, looking from the scenery to the man beside her. "This has something to do with that girl, doesn't it?"

"I suppose it does," he agreed calmly. "I'm not in a position to question Sir, however. And he thinks it may be very important to figure out what she is, exactly."

"She acts like a very ignorant human girl," Elena shrugged. "Always asking those questions – and putting me to sleep!"

"What?" he asked, his voice a bit harsher.

"When I had to sleep in her room, there seemed to be – a strange heaviness in the air," the blond woman said, trying to explain. "It was disturbing…but it made me so tired. And then I didn't wake until morning! Reno didn't think it was around him, when I mentioned it."

"So, you think she has strange powers to put people to sleep?" Tseng asked, amusement a little rough in his tone. "That's rather superstitious of you, Elena. I don't know what that girl is, or if she has any powers, but you have to admit there's something unusual about her. After all, Vincent Valentine brought her here."

"True," she agreed reluctantly, glancing down below them. "Where shall we land first?"

* * *

"Reno? Now where'd you go?" Xoe called that night, wandering around the house looking for the Turk. "Hey, this isn't funny!" she warned him, "If you're trying to scare me –"

"Gotcha!" he cried, dropping from the ceiling to the floor and grabbing her from behind. To his surprise, instead of a scream, she made a stifled kind of noise and her leg promptly went up, nailing his…sensitive spot. "Hey!" he squeaked, immediately releasing her. "That was mean!"

"I told you not to do that!" she informed him with a glare, and then blinked as he straightened and peered at her. "What? Don't they fit right?" she asked, referring to the new clothes she was wearing.

"_Too damn well,"_ Reno thought, catching sight of the bandages on her calves. She was wearing the same boots as before, which went halfway up to her knees, but had changed from her pants to a low-rise black skirt with a silver belt, with a slit on her left side that went all the way up to the belt itself. The length of the skirt, which ended right at her ankles, coupled with the slit revealed previously-unseen legs to the Turk.

"Reno?"

"_Nice legs,"_ the redhead thought absently, as his gaze quickly traveled upward. On top she wore a white shirt that went into the top of her skirt and off her shoulders, displaying her slim throat and collarbone, along with the same black choker. The sleeves went to her wrists, where he noticed she wore black fingerless gloves and wondered if the geostigma was spreading.

"Reno!" Xoe yelled, and he snapped out of his gaze to see in surprise that she was right in front of him. "Get your mind out of the gutter," she ordered, and he blinked.

"Huh? But I wasn't!" he protested, and she eyed him.

"I saw that look!" she rolled her eyes, and then paused for a moment. "But…you think it looks all right?"

"Yep," he nodded agreeably. "And sorry…about scaring you," he forced out.

"All right, then," she sighed, turning away again. "I was wondering where you went. After that thing with Vincent earlier…I'm kinda creeped out, that's all."

"Ah, he said he wouldn't do it again."

"No he didn't."

"Well…I don't think he will," Reno said confidently, ignoring the doubtful look she was giving him. "Rude said he and Shinra are on their way back – should arrive late tonight. Want to just sit up for 'em, if you're too scared to sleep?"

"I'm not!" she retorted, hearing the teasing in his question. "I just…well…your security system can't be all that good," she said finally, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"It is too!" the Turk said defensively. "But Vincent isn't normal – you know that!"

"Excuses, excuses."

"Fine, you think it's not that good? Then you won't have a problem going outside with it activated," he smirked, reaching and grabbing her arm before she could pull away.

"He-hey! Reno, what do you think you're doing?" Xoe demanded, becoming a little panicked as he pulled her toward the door.

"Now, now, it's not that good, remember?" he grinned, now pushing her in front of him and moving to open the door. "Don't worry, it – augh!" he shrieked, leaping back as he opened the door. Before them was Vincent, blocking the exit.

"I thought I better keep an eye on you," he said dryly, eying Reno distastefully. Despite Xoe's nervousness around the stranger, she felt a sense of relief as she stepped away to let him in. "I thought you were supposed to be guarding her, not trying to get her killed," Vincent added, shutting the door easily.

"Yo-you…hey, get out!" Reno ordered, trying to straighten himself out. "Shinra won't be happy to find you here," he added, but Vincent made a noise in his throat.

"I'll be gone before he gets here," he told them, and suddenly was in front of Reno, staring him down coolly. "I just wanted to warn you to keep that girl safe," he said quietly to the nervous Turk, low enough that Xoe couldn't hear. "It's only fair to warn you that if she is harmed, I will be very displeased."

"Wh…what's she to you, anyway?" Reno demanded, backing up, but Vincent merely turned toward the door once more.

"That is…none of your concern," he informed them, disappearing from view again.

"He's a little creepy," Xoe managed, keeping an eye on the door as she moved toward Reno. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…yeah," he nodded, shaking his head. "Let's stay up for Rude and Shinra to get back, what dya say?"

"Sounds good," she agreed quickly.

* * *

"How precious," Shinra said dryly, as he and Rude entered the building several hours later, while the sky was still dark. Rude stifled a sudden laugh at the sight, imagining how Reno was going to react to this. The Turk was sprawled on the couch, his head tipped back and one arm stretched across the back, while the other rested on Xoe's hips. The young woman in question was curled practically in his lap, her legs tucked underneath her and her head on his collarbone.

"Ahem," Rude coughed, deciding to save Reno further humiliation.

"Wh-whozat?" Reno mumbled, blinking his eyes open sleepily. "Oh, it's you…ack! Sir!" he realized, snapping back to reality and almost jumping to his feet before he realized where Xoe was. "Uh…it's not…uh…" he stammered, unable to come up with an explanation that didn't sound as ridiculous as the truth was. Reno hardly wanted to admit to his boss he was too scared to go to sleep, after all.

"Hm?" Xoe yawned, stretching her arms and promptly smacking Reno in the jaw.

"Ow!"

"Sorry!" she said hastily, sitting upright and realizing Shinra and Rude were watching them, both highly amused at the situation. "Oh…you're back early," she managed, trying to smooth her hair straight while Reno grunted and stood up.

"Sorry, Sir. We were waiting for you to come back," he finally said.

"Oh no, it's not a problem. It's too bad we didn't have a camera," Shinra smirked, more than willing to have a little fun at his Turk's expense. "I'm sure you both had a busy night, with Vincent dropping by. Cloud said to say hello," he added, and Reno grinned, knowing his boss was lying.

"I'll be sure to thank him," he nodded. "Oh, do you need anything?"

"No, I'm just going to get some coffee," Shinra said absently. "You can both return to sleeping, or whatever you were doing."

"I believe it was cuddling, Sir," Rude offered solemnly, earning a hateful glare from Reno.

"I think I'll go back to bed," Xoe nodded, either oblivious or completely ignoring the exchange between the two Turks. "Just for a few more hours, at least."

"I'll see you when you get back up, then," Shinra nodded agreeably, and remained silent as Xoe wandered back to her room, still half-asleep. He looked surprised, however, when she paused and turned around, looking a bit sheepish.

"Uh…Reno? Are you staying up?" she asked, sounding a bit nervous.

"Oh – what?"

"Never mind," she shook her head, but squirmed a little before reluctantly retreating into her room alone.

"What was that all about?" Shinra asked.

"She's nervous about Vincent coming back in," Reno explained.

"Well, it won't do to have her unable to function properly, if we're to find out what she is," his boss informed him. "You are dismissed, Reno."

"Ah, but – yes, Sir," he nodded, his shoulders slumping in embarrassment as he headed toward the room as well, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"It appears as if Tseng and Elena won't return for several more hours, if not more," Rude reported, checking the voicemail on his comm.

"That's fine, Rude," Shinra nodded. "I have some business to take care of – you are dismissed as well."

"Yes, Sir," the Turk inclined his head briefly before heading off to his own room, secretly looking forward to getting some sleep for once.

* * *

"Are Elena and Tseng supposed to be gone long?" Xoe asked later that day, having gotten several more hours of sleep in before getting up to get something to eat.

"Who knows," Reno grunted, hunched over his third cup of coffee.

"Are you all right?" she asked. "I've never seen you drink that much coffee before."

"Well, it was a strange night," he retorted calmly, taking another swig of it. "Ah…that hits the spot," he sighed in relief, draining the mug in another quick gulp.

"Nothing happened between you and Xoe last night, did it?" a female voice asked mockingly. "You didn't deflower the young woman, did you, Reno?"

"Elena!" Xoe exclaimed, as Reno spit his coffee back out in surprise. "I was just asking Reno when you were supposed to be back. Where did you go, anyway?"

"Had to get some research done," the blond replied evasively, sitting down at the bar beside Xoe. "So, Reno didn't do anything, did he?"

"Like what?" the other woman asked, sounding completely confused. Elena grinned evilly, with a glance at a reddening Reno, and opened her mouth to reply. Luckily for all involved, Tseng entered the room and interrupted the conversation smoothly.

"Elena, Sir told us he wanted a report as soon as we returned, remember?" he pointed out. "You can embarrass Reno later – let's go."

"You got lucky this time, buddy," Elena winked at the redhead, striding off behind Tseng and leaving the pair once more alone.

"What was Elena taking about?" Xoe asked, looking back to Reno in confusion. To her surprise, the Turk suddenly groaned and dropped his head on the counter with a 'thwack', leaving her still confused and a little worried about his caffeine consumption.

* * *

"I'm pleased you were able to recover a piece of the Meteor," Shinra complimented them a few minutes later, when they were done with their report. "This will prove useful in analyzing the anomalies in her blood."

"What do you think she could be, Sir?" Elena asked, unable to restrain her curiosity.

"Elena seems to think she has a strange power to put people to sleep," Tseng told his boss dryly, and Elena shot him a dirty look in embarrassment. Shinra, on the other hand, looked intrigued and leaned forward slightly.

"Oh? And what makes you think that, Elena?" he asked, and listened intently as the Turk told him about her previous experience. "I see…and Reno denied anything of the sort happening around him," he mused, leaning back once she was done.

"Yes, Sir."

"Hmm…thank you for telling me, Elena. This is a very interesting piece of information…you are both excused for now," he said, suddenly dismissing them with a wave of his hand. The two Turks bowed briefly before retreating, leaving Shinra alone in his study. The young man remained silent for several more minutes, before looking up coolly. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Vincent."

The red-eyed man simply stared back at him, earning a smirk from Shinra.

"May I ask what your special interest is in this young woman?" he prodded. "I was under the impression you cared little about humans – especially females. Did Cloud send you this time?"

"No, I came on my own," Vincent replied. "Do you think I'm his messenger dog?"

"Nothing of the sort," Shinra said calmly. "Are you going to answer my questions?"

"Of course not," he informed him. "I came to ask you what your Turks were doing in the area Meteor fell."

"So, you _have_ been tracking them," Shinra said in satisfaction. "They were recovering pieces of the Meteor, to compare with the anomalies in the young woman's blood."

"And you're telling me this why?" Vincent asked suspiciously, a bit surprised the man before him was volunteering information so easily.

"You'll find out anyway, won't you?" he pointed out coolly. "I'm sure you're aware she is not a normal human being, bearing the geostigma as she is. And certain events around her hint at certain powers she may possess."

"Powers? What kind of powers?"

"I'm not sure yet," Shinra told him, hearing the sharpness in Vincent's voice. "Be assured, I do not plan on using her for anything."

"As of now."

"As of now," he conceded, folding his fingers together underneath his chin. "Do you plan on staying for dinner?" Vincent 'hmphed' at him before whirling his cloak around and disappearing as suddenly as he had arrived. "Hmm…that man seems to know something," Shinra thought, peering out the window Vincent had left. "I'm sure I'll find out soon."

* * *

"Why exactly are you so interested in that girl anyway, Vincent?" Cloud asked calmly, meeting his friend once more in the woods outside of Midgar. "Shinra seemed to be suspicious when he heard you had gone there again."

"That girl…she reminds me of Jenova," Vincent said thoughtfully, and the blond swordsman stared at him in amazement.

"Are you joking?"

"Her looks are similar, in a way," the man objected moodily. "Her attitude is nothing like her, of course. But something about her – other than her looks – makes me think of Jenova."

"But that's impossible," Cloud protested. "All the remnants were purified by the water, remember?"

"Except her – her geostigma is still present," Vincent reminded him, and Cloud nodded in reluctant agreement. "I think it would be beneficial if she returns to the church again, conscious," he continued coolly. "Perhaps that will serve better this time."

* * *

If you can't tell - I love writing humor scenes. And they're especially funny with Reno! Please review.


	6. Report VI

Summary; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

Even though there's only two reviews - thanks, guys! - I wanted to update anyway. I like working on this, I think because Reno is so fun to write. His interactions with the other characters, especially Xoe, is fun for me to write and comes easily to me - unlike other fics that I'm brain-dead on. Anyway, here's the next chapter. And keep guessing about what I'm going to do next - it's fun!

Please review if you read. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.

* * *

"You want to go where?" Reno asked in surprise the next morning, pulling his shirt on and beginning to button it up. He had woken with a strange feeling, only to see Xoe standing over him looking impatient and scaring the crap out of him. "And next time you want me awake, just shove me," he added, and she nodded sheepishly. 

"Sorry, Reno," she apologized, already completely dressed and looking as if she wanted to go somewhere soon. "And I want to go to that church Shinra was talking about – the one with the water that cures the geostigma."

"That water doesn't work – we tried it already when you first got here," the Turk protested, pulling his jacket on and fixing it coolly.

"Yes, but you didn't bring me to the church, you brought the water here," she argued. "And I wasn't even conscious! Maybe it'll work if I'm actually there – that's what everyone else had to do," she insisted, leaning forward to stare at the redhead with pleading eyes. "_Please_, Reno?"

"I'll ask Sir," he sighed, and the young woman clapped her hands in excitement, knowing Reno had caved in.

* * *

"She wants to visit the church?" Shinra repeated, his raised eyebrow the only sign of his disbelief. "Did she say why?"

"Just that she wants to see if it'll work," Reno shrugged, tazer tapping on one shoulder lazily. "I don't care."

"All right, then, take her. Spend as long as you like in Midgar, by the way," his boss added, and the Turk couldn't suppress his suspicious glance at this. "I believe that being among other people is helping her become accustomed to her situation, and will eventually help her regain her memories," he said coolly, leaving questions with every word the Turk wanted to ask. Instead, Reno nodded curtly and strode from the room, tazer now swinging by his side.

"See ya later, Sir," he said hastily, before shutting the door behind him.

"Have fun, Reno," Shinra chuckled softly to himself, believing his plan was going exactly as he wished it.

* * *

"It's all…destroyed," Xoe said thoughtfully, looking around in amazement as they entered the broken-down building.

"Yeah…there's a long history behind this place," Reno said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'll have to tell you about it one day. There's the water, up in front."

"It looks like a little pond," she noticed, crouching beside it. "Is it deep?"

"No, not very. Don't worry, you won't drown," he assured her with a grin, before noticing her face. "What, scared of something?"

"No…I'm just nervous," she admitted suddenly. "What if this doesn't work?"

"Then we'll keep looking for something – well, Sir will," Reno added with a shrug. "Don't worry so much – just get it done."

"All right," she nodded, straightening and going hesitantly into the water. She slowly removed one of her gloves, and Reno saw with astonishment that the geostigma had spread down to her wrist, and was creeping up the back of her hand. Rolling up her sleeve, Xoe leaned down to bathe her arm in the water, closing her eyes in fervent prayer. The building was completely silent for a few long seconds, while Reno stood waiting expectantly, almost believing the cure would work this time. He jumped into the air moments later when she suddenly shrieked and tore her hand away, as if the water had stung her.

"What's the matter?" he demanded, splashing into the water and meeting her as she tried to get out onto the floor.

"The water…my arm…" she managed, in obvious pain as tears appeared at the corners of her eyes. Reno eyed in her concern, but pulled her out of the rippling water and crouched next to her on the floor, taking her arm gently to inspect it.

"Whew," he whistled in spite of himself, amazed at the sight. The geostigma had turned a dark red color and looked as if it was bubbling, like it was boiling from the inside out. Xoe whimpered quietly, avoiding looking at the sight, and Reno stared at it in dismay, unsure what he could do with it. "It's like that on your legs, isn't it," he said, knowing he was right even before Xoe managed a painful nod. "All right, just don't move," he cautioned, and went to touch it lightly. Xoe winced in anticipation, but his hand hovered above her calve in surprise when the marks on her arm suddenly dimmed down, and returned to its original state.

"It doesn't hurt anymore," Xoe said quietly, when it was apparent Reno was too surprised to say anything. She withdrew her arm from his grasp and drew her legs to her chest nervously. "Please don't look at it now," she added, referring to his hand still close to her calve.

"It looks like its back to normal now," he managed finally, bringing his hand back to his side and gazing at her for a long moment. "Are you sure it's all right?" he checked, and she nodded mutely. "I guess we should get back, then," he told her, pushing himself to his feet. "Want some help?" he asked, offering his hand to her. Reno blinked when she got to her feet on her own and stood up rather shakily, but didn't look him in the eye.

"Can we go back, Reno?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the ground.

"Yeah, we probably should," he nodded, and strode out of the church, Xoe slowly following him.

* * *

"No, I didn't think that it would work," Shinra nodded, having finished listening to the female Turk's report to him later that day. "When did they get back?"

"Not long ago, Sir," she told him. "Reno looks like he's actually trying to cheer her up."

"I heard that you and Tseng referred to their situation to 'a chick adopting an attack dog as its mother' once, correct?" the man guessed in amusement, and smiled when she stammered in embarrassment. "It's quite all right, Elena – I agree. Tell Reno that he's to carry out the recent mission in Sector H with Tseng immediately – no arguments," he added, and the blond woman bowed shortly.

"Yes, Sir. Will that be all?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you, Elena," he waved his hand in dismissal, and frowned slightly to himself as she left. "It's not very healthy for the attack dog to become attached to the chick, after all," he said quietly, having become annoyed at the redheaded Turk when Reno had refused several ordered missions in order to remain close to Xoe. "The chick eventually grows up to become food for the strong – he should remember that," Shinra murmured into his folded hands, deciding to teach his strong-willed Turk a little lesson.

* * *

"What?" Reno demanded, when Elena finished telling him Shinra's orders. "First I'm supposed to stay with her, and now I've gotta go off somewhere? What a load of bullshit!"

"Sir ordered it," the blond replied, that being the end of the discussion for her. Reno frowned, far from deciding to be obedient, when Tseng suddenly appeared, looking grim.

"Reno, we've got to get going," he said sternly. "Rude will take over your place with Xoe while we're gone. You've been uppity lately – you have to remember who we are, who you are."

"Yeah, yeah, I remember," the redhead grumbled. "I'm just following orders, damn it."

"And now you have new orders," Tseng replied coolly. "Come on, Reno."

"Let me just go tell her, at least," Reno said grudgingly, heading back toward the room where Xoe was currently studying another history tome. The other two Turks exchanged slightly-concerned glances, but Tseng shrugged casually.

* * *

"Hey, Xoe," Reno poked her in the shoulder lightly, looking over her shoulder impatiently. She looked up in surprise, as if she hadn't noticed his presence, and frowned a little when she saw his face.

"What's the matter? You look funny," she told him, and he sighed.

"I've gotta go with Tseng on a mission," he told her, and rushed on when a panicked look crossed her face. "It shouldn't take too long, and Rude'll be here with you while I'm gone. So don't worry – I'll be back soon, so make sure Rude toes the line," he joked, but she clutched his arm tightly.

"Will you be back soon?" she checked, and he nodded reassuringly, not at all certain how long it would take. Sector H was notorious for the crime, and Reno wasn't looking forward to going in it again.

"Sure – I promise!" he grinned, and gently tugged his arm out of her grasp. "I gotta go, or else Tseng'll get pissed off at me. C'mon, relax!"

"All right," she nodded, reluctantly releasing him. "Stay safe, Reno."

"Always do," he winked, leaving the room before anything else could be said. The Turk was fully aware of his position as Shinra's dog, and he had never question his loyalty to his boss during his entire career as a Turk before. But something about the business concerning Xoe left a bad taste in his mouth, and the Turk had decided not to let anything happen without his knowledge on the matter – partly because he was scared shitless of Vincent, and he was certain the man would do very bad things to the Turk if he let anything happen to Xoe.

"Ready to go yet?" Tseng asked patiently, waiting outside in the hall. 

"Yep," Reno nodded curtly, heading toward the door. "Are we going to be long?" he asked, abruptly stopping in front of the still-shut door, waiting for an answer.

"As long as it takes."

"That's not an answer, Tseng."

"I don't think so," the fellow Turk sighed, and Reno nodded curtly before stepping out the door in annoyance. Tseng followed him after shooting a wry glance in Rude and Elena's direction, shutting the door firmly behind him.

"Reno doesn't look too happy," Elena commented, and Rude shook his head.

"I believe he's grown attached to Xoe," the large man guessed. "He's spent almost all of his time around her, after all. And Reno's actually a very charismatic person."

"Charismatic? _Him_?" Elena snorted, and Rude cracked a slight grin.

"Well, with the right people," he added, shrugging as he turned to stride towards the library, having agreed to take Reno's place as bodyguard.

* * *

"It's been two days," Elena thought, looking over her glass at Rude, who was nursing a drink of his own. "Has Sir mentioned anything to you?"

"Just that they'll be back soon," he replied, before taking another sip.

"That's what I heard too," she sighed, tipping her head back to empty her glass. "Hasn't that girl stopped sulking yet?"

"It's not sulking – it's more like panic," Rude corrected. "I believe that Reno is like a security blanket for her – she's around him the most, remember. Take that security blanket, and she's back in her previous position – alone with a bunch of strange people in a world she doesn't know."

"So, she shut herself in the room for protection?" the blond woman guessed dryly, feeling a little sorry for the other girl – and a little surprised at hearing Rude say so many words at one time. "Isn't she an adult?"

"Physically," he replied, and left it at that. Elena finished off another drink before getting her to feet, and glancing down at her communicator.

"Sir wants me. Have fun babysitting, Rude," she waved, leaving him alone at the bar.

"Good luck," he responded, perfectly happy at having some peace and quiet for a change. Not that Xoe had been loud – but her perfect silence had unnerved the Turk a bit, and he thought it seemed like she had completely shut down.

* * *

"You called, Sir?" Elena asked, entering the room.

"Come in, Elena," Shinra greeted her, waving her over. The calculating man knew that Elena's true loyalty lay to Tseng, but that as long as Tseng was on his side, the female Turk was the most trustworthy one of the group. "How is Xoe doing?"

"According to Rude, not so well," she replied. "Shouldn't you bring Reno back, Sir?" she ventured to ask, and blinked in surprise when he chuckled.

"He'll be back tomorrow, Elena," he told her. "But I was going to use this time to speak to Xoe privately, if you could go get her."

"Of course, Sir. If I may ask one thing, though?" she added, before going to fetch the girl.

"Yes?" he asked curiously, wondering what the normally-unquestioning Turk wanted to know.

"Have you found out anything about that blood anomaly, Sir?" Elena asked. "It's been so long, I was just wondering if…"

"Nothing definitive yet," he replied pleasantly. "Now, go get Xoe, Elena."

"Sir," she nodded, knowing when she had been dismissed. Shinra leaned back in his chair, waiting for Elena to return with Xoe – he didn't have long to wait, since the Turk returned with her in only a few minutes. He observed the silent young woman sharply, and noticed she looked as though she had withdrew into herself. "Will that be all, Sir?" Elena asked, and left the room when he merely waved toward the door.

"Have a seat, Xoe," he suggested, gesturing to a chair opposite his desk. "How have you been? I assure you, Reno will return shortly. Have you been getting enough to eat?" He peered at her, apparently waiting for something, and smiled to himself when she merely stared at the carpet underneath her feet. He leaned forward a bit in his chair, and the sudden caught her attention. Her head snapped up, and Shinra recognized the look of a frightened animal in her eyes. "I won't do anything to you, Xoe," he continued calmly, leaning forward a little more. She continued to watch him, and he smiled more. "I merely wanted to make sure you were comfortable. I would appreciate it if you would answer." He purposefully let his tone become sharp at the end, and watched in satisfaction when she winced.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," she said quietly, lowering her gaze again as well.

"Do you need anything?"

"No," Xoe replied, even quieter.

"When you returned to the spring the other day, with Reno – what happened?" he demanded, taking full advantage of his situation. At this question, Xoe's eyes widened and she bolted to her feet, running toward the door. Shinra had seen that coming, and grabbed her arm before she could reach it.

"Let me –"

"Go?" he asked softly, pulling her close to him and looking down in her frightened eyes. "There is no Reno here to shield you from me – and you should wonder if he would at all. Nevertheless, I require answers, and you will give me them."

"Noth-nothing happened," she stammered, trying to wrench herself free from his grasp. Shinra enjoyed the panic on her face, and smiled pleasantly down at her. Xoe paled when she realized he was enjoying the situation, and tried to calm herself.

"Is that so?" he mused. "Then why have you behaved so strangely since you returned?"

"I haven't," she said defensively, but winced when his gaze returned to her. "Th-the geostigma reacted and burned," she confessed, hoping that would be enough to appease the man. "It's very painful lately, and I've been tired."

"Is that all?" he asked sternly, and she nodded mutely. He released her arm and she stumbled backwards, keeping a wary eye on him. "All right – you may leave," he dismissed her, and watched as she raced out the door. Just before she disappeared, however, he cleared his throat and caught her gaze. "And remember that this conversation was private," he informed her coolly. "It would not be prudent to mention it to anyone else – especially Reno."

Xoe's eyes widened perceptively before she swallowed noisily and slammed the door behind her, leaving Shinra with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Hmm…" he mused, returning to his desk. Rufus Shinra knew full well something else had happened, but was satisfied he had accomplished his goal that evening – to remind Xoe that she was not safe from him, as long as his Turks were there.

As long as _his_ Turks…Shinra frowned as a sudden thought occurred to him, and shook his head.

"I doubt even he is that stupid," he thought, sitting back down and picking up a file of interest to him.

* * *

"_Finally_!" Reno sighed, arriving late the next afternoon with Tseng behind him. "That certainly took long enough, bastard," he continued, but the insult lacked the usual bite, since the Turk was all-too glad to be back at the building – for several reasons he still was trying to figure out. All he could understand, though, was that when they arrived, a sense of relief suddenly shot through him.

"I didn't think we would receive more orders," Tseng told him calmly, a bit curious as to why their boss had kept them away for so long. Not a stupid man, Tseng was unsure what was going on, but had the distinctive feeling he wouldn't like it if he knew about it.

"Well, we're back now, so I forgive ya," the redhead winked, striding up the stairs and flinging the door open with a grin. Elena looked up in slight surprise, but returned to her reading with a snort when Reno winked at her as well. "Where's Rude?" he asked, as Tseng shut the forgotten door.

"With that girl, of course," Elena replied shortly. "Be sure to let Sir know that you're back."

"I'm sure he already knows," Tseng nodded, while Reno completely ignored them and ambled down the hall out of sight.

"How was it?"

"More than I expected," the tall man sighed, shaking his head and heading toward the bar, Elena in tow. "Sir was constantly contacting us and giving us new orders – some of which were in complete conflict with previous ones. I have a feeling he was just stalling us there for something."

"Like what?" Elena pressed, and blinked when Tseng suddenly turned to observe her.

"Did anything happen while Reno and I were gone?" he asked, and she hesitated before nodding coolly.

"Yes – Sir had a private discussion with Xoe yesterday," she replied, and continued when he merely stared at her. "I don't know what about, but she's locked herself in her room ever since."

"I'll have to have a talk with Reno," Tseng decided, and she looked at him in confusion.

"Reno? Why?" she asked skeptically, and he gazed at her over the edge of his raised glass.

"He may act like an idiot, but he's far from it. And he's dangerous," he told her solemnly, and emptied his glass in one drink. Elena remained silent, waiting for something more, but Tseng left it at that, leaving her to wonder what he was getting at.

* * *

Haha - I decided to leave you hanging for a bit. Please review!


	7. Report VII

Summary; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

Ah, a big, long update for all you luvalee readers! The darn ruler still isn't working for me, so you'll have to deal with the OoOoOo's for now. Thanks everyone who's reviewed and encouraged me! I got Dirge of Cerberus a few days ago and started it last night - awesome game. I won't be using anything from the game plot in this, though - it's still based on FFAC and FF7. I love my stories, but that's WAY too complicated! Anyway, continue on...if you read this, that is.

Please review if you read. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.

* * *

"Hey, what's up?" Reno grinned, slapping his friend on the arm. Rude was sitting outside the door in the hall, shades on as usual and arms crossed over his chest. "What, is she in trouble or something?" he asked, noticing the man's solemn gaze.

"No – I believe she is tired," Rude told him, deciding not to get involved with whatever his boss was up to concerning the young woman behind the door. "She locked it, but I know you have a key."

"So do you," the redhead pointed out, but the other man merely shrugged.

"I think I merely agitated her."

"Hah!" the younger Turk shouted with a quick laugh, reaching into his pocket for the key to the door. He glanced over when Rude suddenly stood up, and blinked when he began to drag the chair down the hall. "Hey, where're ya going, buddy?" he asked, and the bald Turk shrugged.

"I have other things to attend to now," he said simply, and Reno rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, man," he replied, unlocking the door and returning the key to his pocket as he strode into the room, looking around curiously. Everything appeared to be in place, and the Turk shut the door behind him warily, wondering if Vincent had paid another visit to the young woman. Reaching the center of the room and still not seeing Xoe, he paused and rested his hand on his tazer, ready to draw it in a second. "Xoe? Where'd ya go?" he called, and jumped when he heard a noise behind him.

"Reno!" she cried, surprising the Turk into silence when she rushed at him, throwing her arms around his waist and pressing her body against his. To his further amazement, Reno realized she was shaking from head to foot, and looked down at her, his eyes wide.

"Hey, what's the matter?" he managed. She only shook her head and squeezed him even tighter, and Reno got the uncomfortable feeling he was wearing a corset. "Hey, c'mon, I was only gone a few days," he continued, completely out of his element. "I didn't mean to be so long," he added, but when she didn't reply he sighed and rested a hand on the top of her head comfortingly, his other releasing his tazer and slipping around her shoulders. "What's the matter? You're not _crying_, are you?" he realized in shock, feeling his shirt getting wet.

"I…was afraid…you…were never…coming back," she whispered between hiccupping sobs. Reno resisted the urge to scratch the back of his head, a nervous habit, and settled for shifting around a bit. As she calmed down after a few moments, the Turk waited patiently until he felt her grip loosen before moving his hand from her head to her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

"Not coming back? Why wouldn't I?" he asked, honestly confused. "I'm a Turk, after all," he added, and stammered when she stared back at him, panic creeping into her eyes at the last part. "Well…I mean…uh…" he tried to spit something out, but she took a deep breath and shook her head, as if to clear it.

"I'm sorry," Xoe apologized suddenly, but still didn't step back from the Turk. She stared at the ground between them, and he sighed.

"No problem – but what's the matter?" he repeated again. "Did something happen while I was gone? Did Vincent come back and act all creepy and shit?"

"No – it wasn't anything," she shook her head once more, and reluctantly released the Turk, who took a deep breath of relief and stepped back a few paces. "I guess I was just…scared," she managed, turning red from embarrassment, while Reno examined her in confusion.

"Okay," he shrugged, obviously not understanding what she was saying at all. "Well, I'm back now, so don't worry about it. I won't be going away for a long time, at least," he promised, deciding to have a talk with Tseng about her condition later that night.

* * *

As luck would have it, Reno didn't have a chance to talk to Tseng at all until the night after next, since Xoe refused to let him leave for anything more than to use the bathroom – and even then she kept a wary eye on the door. The Turk couldn't figure out what was wrong with her or what was causing her to act like that, but to his comrades' surprise, he patiently put up with it, apparently not even losing his temper.

"You've been surprisingly quiet up till now," Elena commented with a grin, as the four Turks grouped around the bar late at night, once Reno was sure Xoe was soundly asleep.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded, elbows lounging on the counter as usual.

"Nothing," she shrugged, and pointedly ignored the redhead's glare.

"Was there something you wanted to talk to me about, Reno?" Tseng asked calmly, the piercing stares not having gone unnoticed. Reno nodded, his eyes glancing toward the door. "All right – we'll be back momentarily," he told the other two, leading Reno out of the room. Heading into the room the lead Turk now shared with Rude, the dark-haired man turned to face Reno with a questioning stare on his face. "Now, what was it? I'm assuming it has something to do with Xoe."

"Yeah," Reno nodded, leaning against the wall calmly. "She totally freaked out when we got back – she acted like she was terrified of something. And she won't say anything about anything."

"Hm…and you wanted to tell me why?"

"Well, did Elena say anything?" the redhead prodded, straightening a little. "Rude says he doesn't know nothing, but I'm sure blondie does."

"She told me Sir spoke privately to Xoe the afternoon before we arrived," Tseng nodded, deciding it would be better for him to tell Reno something rather than have the temperamental Turk rampaging on the search for answers. "Perhaps something happened – Elena said she didn't know. Maybe memories resurfaced?"

"I don't think so," Reno shook his head, but crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. "Thanks for telling me, Tseng. Wait – why did you?"

"Because there's no need for you to become violent, that's why," the other man explained calmly.

"Whaddya mean?"

"I know you, Reno – you'll lose your temper soon enough and do something foolish, and that's the last thing we need right now," Tseng informed him, and Reno looked a little surprised. "Please, your personality is…layered, but hardly that complex."

"Hey!"

"See?" the amused man pointed out, and Reno only glared at him. "Calm down, Reno. I don't advise you try to start any trouble right now – I'm sure Xoe will return to her old self in a short time, with you around. You have to remember to pick your battles."

"She was terrified!" Reno protested, but Tseng cut him off.

"Yes, but we don't have proof of anything, do we?" he pointed out, and the fellow Turk was forced to mutter something. "For now, just concentrate on your assignment – and I advise you take a close look at yourself and your priorities and decide where your loyalties lay."

"Is that a threat, or advice?" the redhead asked suspiciously, his gaze following Tseng as the man headed for the door. His hand resting on the doorknob, Tseng turned his head enough to meet Reno's eyes, and shrugged slightly.

"Maybe a little of both."

"Hm," he huffed, tightening his arms over his chest before heaving a sigh and dropping them to his sides, left alone in the room. Figuring – correctly – that Xoe would probably be worrying where he was at that point, he shook his head in aggravation and headed out the door himself.

* * *

"Is something wrong?" Xoe asked curiously, as Reno entered the bedroom looking both tired and aggravated. He glanced over at her, and shook his head with a sigh.

"Nah – I'm just tired," he shrugged, tugging off his jacket and shirt and flopping over onto his cot, after flipping off his shoes as was his habit, remaining only in his pants and socks. "How about we go into Midgar tomorrow?" he suggested suddenly, and she frowned suspiciously at him. "What?"

"What's the matter?" she persisted, sitting up in bed and leaning forward. "You're not acting normal, Reno."

"I said I was tired," he repeated, rolling over onto his side and closing his eyes stubbornly. He heard shifting across the room and assumed she was going to sleep as well, and sighed heavily as he prepared to fall asleep. When a sudden weight appeared beside him, he jumped and turned his head, only to see Xoe staring at him. "What are you doing?" he demanded, as she stretched out next to him, her head resting against his shoulder blades.

"You looked lonely," she told him sleepily, and slipped into sleep before he could force her out of his bed.

"Lonely?" the Turk blinked in surprise, but decided against waking the young woman back up to question her. Shrugging slightly, he leaned back against the pillows, stifling a loud yawn.

* * *

"So, any more guesses about what that girl is, Vincent?" Cloud joked, meeting his solemn friend for drinks in Tifa's bar late that night. "I mean, you already established she's not human, right?"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't mock me," the older man said stiffly. "I can sense her power, and it's anything but normal – even Kadaj and his gang didn't give off the same aura."

"Not a remnant, then?" the blond biker guessed, and Vincent nodded. "With all your history with Shinra and everything, I'm not surprised you can sense stuff like that. Have you figured out why you could feel her at the spring yet? You said something about Jenova."

"Yes," Vincent agreed. "Her power feels similar to Jenova, to Sephiroth, and to the remnants – but it's weak, as if not fully awake."

"Is she another clone?" Cloud wondered, taking another drink. "That'd make sense, if her power is similar…"

"More like Jenova than the others," his friend objected suddenly. "Whatever her connection is to all this, I'm sure Shinra is aware of something more than we are – and that he's planning on using her for whatever plots he decides to create."

"I didn't know you cared so much," the other young man grinned, but blinked when Vincent shot him a dirty look.

"If what I'm sensing is any indication, this girl contains much power – and it would be devastating if Shinra was able to control her," the dark-haired man informed the other darkly. "Unless you feel like having Rufus Shinra ruling you, you might want to make a change of attitude."

"You think she could be that powerful?" Cloud asked in disbelief.

"I'm not assuming anything at this point," Vincent replied, meaning nothing was out of the question at this point. Cloud didn't ask any more questions, knowing his friend wasn't going to say anything else on the subject.

* * *

"So that's what she is!" Shinra gasped, reviewing the test results himself early that morning. The papers lay on his desk before him, but he was barely able to believe his suspicions had all been correct regarding the young woman's origins. Reading them yet again, he decided it was time to put his plan into action, suspecting what she had been hiding from him and smirking in anticipation of finally being able to take control of her.

"Is something wrong, Sir?" Tseng asked calmly, entering the room after his boss had buzzed him in.

"Fetch Xoe and bring her here," he ordered, and the Turk regarded the man before him in slight surprise.

"So early, Sir?" he checked, and Shinra nodded firmly.

"I am aware what time it is, Tseng," the man said coolly. "Now, go get her and return immediately. And there is no need for Reno to accompany her," he added, and Tseng nodded sternly.

"Yes, Sir," he agreed, exiting the room as his mind tried to figure out what his boss was planning.

* * *

"Sir wants to speak to you," Tseng explained, restraining un-Turk-like laughter after he had found them sleeping in the same bed and woken them both up. Xoe only pulled the blankets back over her head in silent protest, while Reno yawned once again.

"Lemme get dressed…" the Turk slurred, but Tseng shook his head.

"He only wants to see Xoe," he told them, and Reno blinked in surprise.

"I guess I'll stay here, then," he said grouchily, turning around and shaking the lump gently. "Hey, you gotta go get dressed and stuff. Up and at 'em and all that shit," the redhead continued, and Tseng's eyes narrowed when she didn't respond.

"Is she all right?" Tseng asked, and Reno shrugged.

"She was last night…Xoe?" he checked, stretching and pulling the blankets away from her. "Hey, c'mon, you're not supposed to sulk," he grinned, but Tseng moved forward and leaned over her when he noticed her breathing was different.

"She's running a fever," the older Turk realized, and Reno's eyes widened in surprise.

"She is?"

"When did this start?" Tseng demanded, his palm pressed against her forehead as he took in her flushed face and labored breathing.

"I…not sure…" she managed sleepily, her eyes still shut tight. "Maybe…few days?"

"Hmph," the Turk grunted, straightening his figure. "Why didn't you tell anyone? Never mind – I'll inform Sir that you're in no condition to move from the bed," he said shortly, turning to leave. "Reno, put her in her own bed, for goodness sake. And then get a cold compress on her."

"Sure," he nodded, and scooped up the young woman as soon as his boss left. "So, you've been sick?" he asked, not expecting an answer, as he lowered her onto the mattress and pulled the blankets over her. "What kind of an idiot are ya, to be getting sick and not telling us?" he continued impatiently, annoyed at himself for not noticing. _"Is the fever related to the stigma?"_ he wondered in his head, recalling how the disease had brought fevers to those who had it shortly after infection. _"If it is, why didn't she get it sooner? Is it connected to that water?"_

* * *

Unknown to Reno, the same questions were going through Shinra's head after Tseng informed his boss what was going on with the young woman – along with several other thoughts the informed man was able to guess at, knowing things the Turks were unaware of.

"All right – let me know when her fever goes down," the man ordered, and Tseng nodded sharply.

"Yes, Sir," he replied, quickly retreating from the room as Shinra waved him out.

"I wonder if this is a self-defense mechanism?" Rufus Shinra murmured, glancing at the files laid aside on his desk. His hand rested on them almost victoriously, and a slow smile graced his features as he reviewed the facts before him, going over the past few days critically. "It must be…" he nodded, satisfied he now had everything he needed concerning the young woman in his control. "I have the feeling the end is nearing for this farce of hers," he smirked, placing the files into a drawer and locking them away.

* * *

"Feeling better?" Reno asked quietly later that night, straddling a chair beside the bed and resting his chin on the back of his hands, which were placed on the back of the chair. He looked down at the sleeping young woman, not expecting an answer, and suddenly sighed heavily. "I wonder when the fever'll break?" he thought out-loud, and looked up when the door slowly opened.

"Want to take a break?" Rude asked, glancing quickly at the girl before returning his attention to his friend. The redheaded Turk looked exhausted, though his face was unmarred by rings around his eyes or anything else that would suggest he was tired. Rude had learned to read past his friend's appearances, however, and peered intently at him through his shades. "You look wiped out."

"Nah – I'm fine," the young man waved his hand dismissively, cracking a weak grin. "Did ya bring me any food?"

"Yeah," the bald Turk nodded, handing his friend the tray of food. "You sure you don't want to get some sleep?" Rude checked, glancing once more at the young woman in the bed. Her breathing was still labored, and her face was drained of all color except feverish spots on her cheeks. "I don't think she'll be waking up any time soon."

"I know," Reno shrugged lamely, running a hand through his mussed hair. "But I kinda feel it's my responsibility – I'm the one who has to watch her, remember?"

"Sure?" the tall man asked again, and sighed when his friend only continued eating, pointedly ignoring him. "Finished already?" he realized in surprise, when Reno poked him with the edge of the tray, his head tilted to look his friend in the eye.

"I was hungry," the other man grinned, taking a deep breath. "Ah, that really hit the spot. You can go now, Rude – I'll be fine, thanks. I'll let ya know if I need anything."

"All right," Rude nodded, taking the tray from the young man and striding from the room reluctantly, shutting the door behind him and leaving Reno once more in the quiet room.

"I wish you'd wake up," the young man grumbled, sighing heavily again and once more putting his head down, staring at the young woman beside him. "I wonder if the geostigma is spreading more, since the fever kicked in," he mused, the thought suddenly occurring to him in a brainstorm. Considering his options briefly, and not very thoroughly, he scooted off the chair and onto the edge of the bed, observing Xoe for a moment before continuing his 'brilliant' plan. Moving her over onto her stomach, he propped himself up with one hand next to her shoulder while the other slowly lifted the back of her shirt.

Reno quickly pulled his drifting eyes back to her back as they noticed a part of her breasts showing as he pulled the shirt up more to see her whole back. He absently noticed her smooth skin, and then blinked when that thought registered.

"_Wait…no geostigma anywhere on her body?"_ he realized, furrowing his brow in confusion. His other hand pulled her glove off, and his eyes widened when he saw the stigma was almost completely gone – as if it was being absorbed back into her body by the fever. He remained still for a few moments, trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and was completely oblivious to his surroundings until the door behind him slammed open. The Turk jumped up, startled, and promptly fell off the bed. Groaning, he rubbed the back of his head and looked up, only to see Elena glaring down at him, while Tseng calmly pulled Xoe's shirt back down and replaced the blankets over her.

"What the hell are you doing, you pervert?" she demanded a bit loudly, trying to keep her voice down slightly. "I knew you had a dirty mind, but I didn't think you would try…_that_…when she's asleep!" the blond woman hissed in disgust, and Reno's eyes widened even more in shock.

"You…me…I wouldn't do that!" he shot back angrily. "I was looking for the geostigma!"

"And?" Tseng asked dryly, as the younger Turk got to his feet and brushed himself off in annoyance, trying to regain some of his dignity.

"There's none on her back or anything – and what was on her arm is disappearing," Reno informed them snidely, exchanging dirty looks for Elena's glares of disgust and suspicion. "It's like the fever is absorbing it back into her body."

"He's right," Tseng commented, and Elena turned to see the head Turk peering at Xoe's arm.

"What is wrong with you two?" she demanded furiously. "Did Reno's lack of morals rub off onto you, Tseng? Leave her alone and get out – I guess I'll have to stay here until she wakes up!" the Turk huffed, crossing her arms and glaring at the two men in irritation.

"Just until morning," Reno replied, stretching with a sudden yawn. "I guess I could use some sleep. Night."

"Hold on," Tseng stopped him, and the younger man froze in his attempt to escape from the room. "Elena and I didn't come just to check up on you – Sir wanted us to see how Xoe was progressing. He seems anxious for her to regain consciousness, for some reason."

"And you're telling me this…why?" Reno asked suspiciously, not sure what the two were up to. "I thought you were Sir's little lapdogs."

"Reno –!" Elena began, but a lifted hand from Tseng silenced her.

"I'm not sure what Sir is up to, but it's making slightly nervous, whatever it is. And I'm sure it has something to do with Xoe – I'm telling you this so you don't leave her alone," Tseng told Reno firmly. "Sir hasn't been himself since she arrived – he's like a man obsessed with something. If he is no longer competent and able to run the corporation, it's our duty as Turks to eliminate him and continue our work."

"You're saying you're gonna assassinate Shinra?" Reno asked in disbelief, his jaw dropping completely.

"Just trust me, Reno," Tseng ordered, turning back around so his back faced Reno. "I already informed Rude of this. Now, get some sleep. Elena will get you in the morning."

Reno stared intently at the two Turks for a long moment before spinning around on his heel and striding out of the room. Elena turned to her boss cautiously, and frowned at him.

"Why did you tell him all that?" she demanded, and Tseng looked at her coolly.

"I would have thought it was obvious," he stated, and shook his head when she merely continued to stare at him. "Reno is obviously infatuated with Xoe – whether it's merely a passing fancy or love, I don't know, or really care. But I told you before – Reno is a dangerous man to cross, and he's probably the most skilled out of all of us. Especially when he's acting on instinct," Tseng added thoughtfully. "And he's not an idiot – he discovered the geostigma, or lack of, didn't he? Besides, our loyalty isn't to the president, but to the corporation and its works."

* * *

Ah, the mysteries are starting to reveal themselves! Shinra now knows what she is - if I'm nice I won't drag it out too long for you guys. Anyway, please review! And if you have any scene ideas - between anyone, just something silly or whatever you desire - leave it in a review or message me, and I'm sure I could fit it in. I always give credit. Do I sound to desperate? Yeah...a little brainblock here, people! 


	8. Report VIII

Summary; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing this peice! Here's another update for ya.

Please review. Suggestions, comments, ideas, and helpful criticism welcome.

* * *

"Hey, dope, time to get up," Elena informed him, poking the redhead awake at the crack of dawn. "You're the one who said morning, so get up so I can get something to drink," she continued, staring down at him in annoyance as he took a moment to get his bearings.

"Wh…huh? Oh, you," he groaned, shaking his in an effort to wake up. "Thanks, I guess. You coulda been more gentle, though."

"Whatever," she huffed, stalking from the room. Reno grinned in amusement before swinging his legs over the side of the cot and trudging from the room, scratching the back of his head sleepily.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" Reno asked, as the young man passed the dining room. "We've got pancakes, for once."

"Really?" the Turk asked curiously, before shrugging with a sigh. "Nah – I've gotta pass this time. Save some for me to nuke later, 'kay, Rude?"

"Sure thing, Reno," his friend agreed calmly, returning easily to his own food.

* * *

"No change, huh," Reno sighed, slumping in his chair and peering at Xoe, who appeared to be sleeping slightly better. "Well, her breathing looks more normal," he muttered, crossing his arms on the back of his chair and resting his chin on his arms. He remained that way for quite some time, blinking occasionally when his eyes began to bother him, but otherwise not moving at all.

"Is he sleeping?" Elena whispered, sticking her head into the room slightly. "I mean, his eyes are open, but…"

"No, he's awake – look, he blinked," Tseng pointed out, his head leaning out above the woman's, and she nodded in realization.

"Oh."

"Uh-oh," Rude commented, even higher up than Tseng. The other two realized what he meant when they saw Reno turn his head to glare at them, and they quickly stumbled over each other to get away before he got up.

"Get a job or something!" the Turk yelled after them, getting up to close the door before returning to his seat with a grunt. "Idiots," he grumbled to himself, and sat up straighter to lean over her more when he saw her shift around. "Awake?" he asked hopefully, and grinned broadly when he saw her eyes open. "Hey – sleep well?" he teased, leaning back as she shakily sat up.

"I…was asleep?" she asked blearily, blinking rapidly and looking around the room. "What happened?"

"You had a high fever – you got sick," Reno informed her, and rolled his eyes when she fixed a blank look on him. "I'll explain that later, too, trust me. Anyway, I bet you're hungry. Get dressed and I'll get ya something to eat."

"I guess…I'm hungry after all," she agreed cautiously, resting her feet on the floor as Reno pulled his chair and obligingly turned his back, eyes squeezed shut. After several minutes, Xoe was fully dressed and sitting back down on the bed, peering at his back with a strange look on her face.

"Ready yet? Oh, good, 'cause I'm starving," he noticed, spinning back around cheerfully. "Boy, ya had me worried, getting sick like that and…" he trailed off as Shinra strode into the room, shutting the door firmly behind him and gazing at the two with a small smile on his face. "Sir? What's wrong?" Reno asked, and narrowed his eyes when he saw his boss lock the door.

"I'm glad to hear you're feeling well again, Xoe," Shinra said pleasantly, nodding toward the young woman. Reno, who had been en route to the door, stepped in front of Xoe protectively, inspecting his boss suspiciously.

"Sir? Did something happen?" he asked again, but Shinra only ignored him.

"To be honest, I wasn't too surprised to hear you had fallen ill, Xoe," he continued, and she stared at him nervously. "After all, that's a basic survival instinct – a self-defense mechanism, if you will. Most prey have them."

"Hey!" Reno interrupted, and the man before them spared him an amused glance before returning his attention to a confused Xoe.

"I should also add that I'm impressed at the way you've tamed Reno," he told her calmly. "He was so hard to control before – like chaining a wild dog to a table. It'll slow him down, but hardly stop him. But you…you've not only slowed him down, you seem to have completely stopped him in his tracks."

"What are you talking about?" Xoe demanded, her voice a bit shaky. Shinra paused a moment to chuckle, and drew a file from his jacket.

"But returning to my previous subject, you are hardly an insect, Xoe. Do you know that when the geostigma first began to infect people, it was known that each person has a current in them – like the Lifestream?" Shinra began, holding the folder before her like bait. "And that current served to protect the body against invaders, like the geostigma. However, what caused so many deaths was the overcompensation of the current to heal the body – therefore overloading the human being it was trying to protect."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Reno interrupted again, but was once more talked over.

"I don't…understand what you're saying," Xoe said, but Shinra only laughed shortly.

"Come now – I know for a fact you've been having what most people call memories. In your case, they're more like inherited information," he added casually, and Reno narrowed his eyes even more in annoyance.

"What the hell is going on?" he shouted, reaching for his tazer.

"Several incidents aroused my suspicions, but after Tseng and Elena retrieved fragments of the Meteorfall that struck our planet, everything was clear," Shinra continued, and Xoe's eyes widened as she took a step forward, beginning to move in front of Reno.

"You…know what I am?" she asked hopefully, and he nodded.

"You, my dear – little – memory-less young woman, are nothing more than a depository for all of Jenova's wasted destructive power," he said coolly, pausing after each word for the full effect. Reno's jaw dropped as his tazer hit the floor loudly, while Xoe moved as if she had been punched in the stomach. "All the power destroyed by Holy, and all the leftovers from the geostigma that left peoples' currents when the water cured them, had to go somewhere, since the Lifestream rejected it as well," he continued unceasingly. "And therefore, you were created to hold that power – the anomalies in your blood match cell fragments I found of the Meteorfall."

"But I'm…I'm a person," Xoe whispered, her face completely white.

"You're hardly a person – you're not even human, Xoe," Shinra chuckled, as if what he was saying was simply a good joke. "However, you contain immeasurable power – untapped reserves of potential. Judging from what I've observed, you're able to inflict and intensify pain in any living thing, whether it be emotional or physical. That's why Reno's weapon caused that creature so much more damage than normal – and why you put Elena to sleep that night. Don't you see?" he coaxed, holding his hand out to her. "I can help you – you can become so much more! Think of what you could accomplish!"

"I don't want…want to accomplish anything!" Xoe cried out painfully, unable to understand what was going on. Like Shinra had said, she had begun to have disturbing flashes of images and things ever since the water in the church had touched her, but she had prayed it was nothing – instead, it turned out to be everything she was. "You're saying I'm merely…I'm something empty?" she asked. "I'm just a…a thing? Something put together with leftovers?"

"I believed Reno would be able to rein you in, to coax something out of you, but it seems quite the opposite has happened," Shinra laughed, ignoring her plea. "Instead, the lone wolf – the rabid, dangerous animal – has become an obedient pet!"

"What are you talking about?" Xoe demanded, Shinra having captured her attention by mentioning Reno. The aforementioned Turk remained nearby, trying to absorb the impact of what his boss had said.

"Has Reno told you what the Turks are?" Rufus Shinra asked suddenly, and she blinked at the abrupt question.

"He said that…that they're bodyguards, and that they carry out errands," she said, and Reno took a step forward in protest when Shinra began to laugh in amusement.

"Is that what he told you?" he mused, chuckling appreciatively. "I suppose they're errand boys, in a way…"

"I don't get what the hell's going, but keep your damn mouth shut, Shinra!" Reno threatened, retrieving his tazer and all but waving it at his boss.

"Now, now, Reno, calm down and put that thing away," Shinra waved his hand dismissively at his employee, and turned to Xoe, whose face was one full of confusion. "Your precious Reno is nothing more than a murderer," he told her calmly, and she stared at him in shock.

"N-no! That's not true!" she protested, but Shinra shrugged

"They're errand boys for me – they bring the message of death to whom I order them to," he continued coolly. "They're nothing but a bunch of hired thugs and murderers – the best of the trade, to be sure. Which is why they are the Turks – the finest killing machine ever to be created. More effective when our ranks were larger, but these four are the most talented of the group, so it's lucky they survived."

"It's not true!" Xoe shouted, covering her ears to block the man's words out. Shutting her eyes, she shook her head and took a step back away from them. "They're not…that's not all they are! He isn't a killer!" she yelled, dampness forming beneath her eyes.

"Ask him yourself," Shinra shrugged, gesturing to Reno. "Ask your precious Reno what he's done – if what I've said is a lie. I'm the only one that hasn't lied to you, Xoe – you can trust me!"

"Reno?" she asked pleadingly, fixing her eyes on the Turk. He stared back helplessly, completely lost for words as his tazer hung lifelessly by his side. "Reno…? Please, say…Reno!" she cried, and winced when he turned his head away with a frown.

"You see, Xoe?" Shinra cut in, taking a step forward. Before he could continue, however, Xoe glared at him and stepped farther back, hands hanging at her sides.

"No…you're an evil man, Shinra!" she accused, her eyes – previously clear and bright – growing darker with each moment. "You're a liar – a murderer – a cheater," she told him, a dark aura seeming to grow around her.

"Ow! Damn it…" Reno muttered, but his eyes widened when he saw several old wounds – completely healed and gone – reopen and begin to bleed once more. He glanced over and saw several red spots on Shinra's white jackets, and whirled around when banging suddenly reached his ears.

"What the hell's going on in there?" Tseng shouted through the door. "Open it up!"

"Xoe! Stop this!" Shinra ordered, but the only answer was a cold laughter. Reno shivered at the sound, and stared in amazement at the young woman in front of them – the body was the same, but something seemed darker about her, as if something was surrounding her and seeping through her body. She seemed unaware of the other two in the room, her eyes dark and glazed over as she remained still.

"_This…this isn't that stupid, ditzy girl I have to baby-sit!"_ Reno thought in amazement. _"I don't know what the hell it is – but it's not Xoe!"_

"Xoe!" the Turk shouted, and refused to flinch as her gaze fixed on him. "Snap out of it! This isn't you!" he yelled at her, waving his tazer to emphasize his point. "You're not some vessel of evil or any crap like that!"

"Reno, be quiet," Shinra ordered, and narrowed his eyes when Reno only pushed by him. "So…the wild dog broke free, did it? I thought as much – such a shame," he said coldly, and Reno gasped in surprise as his boss pulled a firearm from his jacket. "Reno, get out of the way," he said firmly, aiming for the Turk. "You're no longer necessary."

"Go to hell," the young man replied, his glare daring the man before him to shoot.

And shoot he did – much to Reno's surprise, to be honest.

"The hell!" Tseng yelled, as Rude finally broke the door down in time for them to see their boss shoot at Reno.

"Reno!" Rude shouted, making a move to do something, but was too far. Everything happened in a split-second, and it took longer for them to realize what happened afterward then it did for the event to actually happen. As the bullet reached Reno's heart, it suddenly exploded in the air, scattering like ashes in the breeze.

"What the…" Shinra began, and took a step back as Xoe fixed her stare on him.

"Don't you dare," she said quietly, something black beginning to form in her hand.

"Is that…materia?" Elena asked, but Tseng shook his head.

"I have no idea…but it's not good, whatever it is," he said, and Reno noticed that the three other Turks were also bleeding from previously-inflicted wounds, but none apparently fatal.

"Xoe! Don't do it!" the redhead shouted, whirling around as he saw the black object began to take form. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, taking a step forward. She gazed at him, and the group saw in surprise that her cheeks were wet with tears, as her hands trembled as well.

"I'm…just empty," she managed, fisting her hands and causing the blackness to spread over her hand like ooze. "Just a shell of something – not a person at all. I don't have a current…I don't have a soul. What am I supposed to be? I won't just be something to destroy things!" she said firmly, the ooze beginning to spread over her. "I'd rather destroy myself, if I have to."

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Reno argued. "You're no hero – you're just some chick that has no idea how anything in this friggin' world works! What makes you think you can just leave again and not give a damn?"

"Reno…I know what he said isn't true," she said quietly, but he stomped forward, now merely pissed off.

"Oh, get a grip and cut the dramatics," he ordered, shaking her by the shoulders and staring down at her. "Or I'll be really pissed – and then you'll have to deal with me drunk again."

"I…you can't…" Xoe began weakly, but the black ooze suddenly disappeared, as if being absorbed back into her body.

"Good job, Reno," Shinra complimented him, breaking the silence as Xoe returned to normal and fell limp into the Turk's arms. "Now, bring her to lab so we can get some more blood work on her and…"

"Bullshit," Reno hissed, turning around, his anger apparent in his eyes. Seeing his expression, Elena suddenly understood everything Tseng had told her about the young man, and realized that she was actually afraid of the 'unique' Turk. "I'm not doing your dirty work anymore, Shinra – get another wild dog to tame."

"Reno! If you disobey me, you know what will happen," the man warned him. "No one leaves the Turks alive."

"Yeah, yeah – you'll have to catch me first," the young man nodded, catching them off-guard with a sudden grin before shooting out the window as if he had wings.

"After him!" Shinra ordered, turning on the Turks he had left. "Well? Go!" he shouted, when they remained still in surprise.

"Too late," Rude commented dryly, as they heard a motorbike engine start up. Moments later, they heard the machine escape from the lodge and onto the mountain road, its noise fading from their ears.

* * *

"You knew this was going to happen!" Elena accused Tseng later that night, as the three remaining Turks sat at the bar as usual. Rude had been even more silent than usual, while Shinra had locked himself in his office with paperwork.

"I can hardly predict the future," Tseng replied dryly, but she only frowned at him and pointed her finger at him angrily.

"Don't twist my words – I knew there was a reason you were warning Reno about something," she said in satisfaction, leaning back a bit to drain more of her drink. "I thought you said –"

"That our loyalty is to the company, not Shinra," the Turk interrupted calmly. "Shinra is hardly acting like his usual self – you saw him in that room. And Reno…"

"This is totally out of character for that idiot," Elena groused, but Rude only shook his head while Tseng laughed in amusement.

"I've been telling you that Reno is no idiot," the head Turk said. "And maybe it is out of character for him to act this way, but I thought he was acting strangely as well. That girl had more of an effect on him than we knew – Shinra was right about that. I wouldn't say he's tamed, but in a sense he's calmed down a bit."

"So, what are you plans now?" Rude asked suddenly. "Are we going after Reno, or staying here?"

"I'm not sure," Tseng admitted. "I want to see what Shinra is going to do next before we act. It's hardly wise to just leave without knowing what the other person is planning, after all. We might need a counterattack."

"You think he'll send us to take out Reno?" Elena wondered, her eyes widening. "I mean, he took off, but…he's still a Turk."

"The question isn't 'will he' – it's how will we?" Tseng countered. "I'm not entirely sure we would be able to eliminate Reno even if we all attacked at once – he's strong, and I don't think he'd have any second thoughts about killing us if the girl was threatened."

"And you're saying we would?" the blond woman prodded, and the man shrugged, tipping his head back for another drink before replacing the glass on the bar.

"I don't know," he said. "Would you be able to kill Reno without a second thought?"

Elena stuttered for a moment, taken aback by the question, and the two Turks looked as Rude got to his feet and strode from the room without a word, and Tseng sighed.

"There must be something else that's going on," he muttered, almost to himself.

* * *

There ya go! Still story left - please review. 


	9. Report VIIII

Summary; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

Here's the next chapter, people! Some fluff in here, and more Vincent scenes. Nothing much else to say, so keep on reading.

Please review. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.

* * *

As the lodge faded behind them, Reno's mind raced as he tried to think of what to do next. Xoe was still unconscious, and leaned against him limply as he held her tightly to keep her from falling. Glancing around to make sure there was no pursuit, the redhead made an abrupt turn down a dirt path into the trees, kicking up rocks as he made his way through the winding trail. After a few minutes it widened a bit, and he pulled off the side and shut the motorcycle down.

"Whew…should be okay here," he sighed, swinging his leg over the side, still holding Xoe close. Trees blanketed the ground, creating a dense canopy overhead and barely filtering through sunlight. The sky had grown dark with clouds, but didn't appear to be threatening rain any time soon.

"Uhr…" Xoe moaned softly, and he glanced down at her with a shake of his head.

"This is friggin' crazy," he muttered, and flopped to the ground, cross-legged and resting the unconscious young woman on his lap. Within a few moments she began to shift around uncomfortably, and Reno helped her sit up straighter, supporting her with a hand behind her back. "You feeling all right?" he asked, as her eyes blinked open to reveal their usual clear green color. He suppressed a sigh of relief as she looked around curiously, before turning back to him.

"Reno…where are we?" she asked blankly. "What happened?"

"Uh…whaddya mean?" he replied, a little taken aback.

"I remember waking up, getting dressed…and when Shinra came in, I blacked out," Xoe frowned to herself, trying to recall what had happened. "Did I faint? I didn't get sick again, did I?" she asked anxiously, and he had a completely blank look on his face, much to her worry.

"_She doesn't remember anything!"_ he realized, and suppressed a grin. _"That means she doesn't remember what Shinra said…about…"_ Shaking his head to return to reality, he grinned easily at the nervous young woman, trying to reassure her.

"It's a little complicated, but…yeah, you got sick again," he shrugged, scratching the back of his head absently. Xoe peered suspiciously at the Turk, and he mentally groaned when her gasp reached his ears.

"Reno! What happened?" she demanded, leaning back slightly to observe the bloodstains a little better.

"_Damn."_

"It's…nothing," he tried, but she ignored him.

"What happened?" she repeated. "How did you get so many wounds? Reno!"

"There was…uh, a…an incident," Reno finished lamely, and she narrowed her eyes.

"Incident?" she prodded, and he grinned weakly.

"Yeah. Uhm…" he tried to stall for time, but the look in her eyes clearly told him he didn't have much time to spare. "We were attacked," he said quickly, deciding to hide the truth for a while longer. "Everyone's fine, but I grabbed you and took off."

"Was it after me?" she asked, and he blanked.

"Uh…well, all of us," he amended. "But you were sick, so I decided to run for it. The others handled it, trust me."

"So, when are we going back?" Xoe pressed, moving around to get more comfortable. Reno stared up at the sky for a while, hoping an answer would drop from it into his lap, but nothing came. Xoe remained silent, waiting for him to reply, and blinked when he shook his head.

"I thought we could…take a vacation," he told her, hoping it would it. She cocked an eyebrow at him, and he resisted the urge to wipe the cold sweat off his face. "You know…like a break?"

"I…guess," she shrugged, obviously not believing him but deciding not to push him. He almost sighed, but blinked in confusion when she suddenly yawned and closed her eyes.

"Hey! What the hell?" he demanded indignantly, but realized she was already asleep. "Oh well," he muttered, crossing the arm she wasn't sleeping on behind his head and shutting his own eyes. "Might as well get some rest," he decided, not feeling anything nearby.

* * *

Several hours later, as the sky slowly grew darker with the night, Xoe's eyes abruptly popped open and she looked around, a worried look in her eyes.

"I didn't…why didn't he tell me?" she wondered quietly, seeing Reno soundly asleep. Shaking her head slightly to clear it, she sucked the cool air into her lungs and thought back to the dreams she had just had, and frowned. "Did that really happen? It must have," she thought, knowing all her other 'dreams' had been memories. "But…at least I know why we're _here_," she sighed, and gently easing out of Reno's lap. Getting to her feet and stretching for a moment, she looked around, feeling she was being watched. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to take a little walk, she picked her way through the brush into the trees, keeping an eye out for anyone as she did so.

After wandering around for a bit, she turned around to head back and jumped when she saw Vincent standing in front of her calmly.

"You…scared me!" she gasped, catching her breath.

"Sorry," he said shortly, before moving closer and peering down at her. She looked back nervously, unsure what he was going to do.

"Uh…"

"What happened at the lodge?" he demanded suddenly, and she blinked.

"What?"

"I sensed something there – and now it's here," he informed her. "There's something inside you…like there is me."

"Huh?" she asked, but he ignored her.

"What is it? Is it another of Hojo's experiments? Or Shinra's?" he continued, and she paused before lowering her head and shaking it slightly.

"No…it…I'm it," she amended. "There's nothing inside me at all – I was created by the power leftover from Jenova when Holy destroyed it, and all the power that was in the geostigma that the water cured. I'm not even human – I don't know what that makes me."

"Did Shinra tell you this?" Vincent demanded, his suspicions having been almost correct.

"Yes…he said I had something in my blood that matched a fragment of Meteorfall, or something like that," she nodded. "Are you going to destroy me now?"

"No," he replied curtly, turning his back to her. "I was able to sense you in the Woods – probably because of Chaos inside me. But you haven't caused me any trouble, or anyone I care about. And about that power…just don't use it. It doesn't matter what you are, if you don't use it. Trust me."

"Are you…telling me that you're going to let me go?" Xoe asked in disbelief. "I thought you would…get rid of me, so I don't cause trouble."

"I will, if you do," he said, and glanced over his shoulder at her. "You should be getting back – that idiot Turk will be worried."

"I…I'm lost," she admitted with embarrassment, and peered at him. "I thought I sensed something and went looking for it. I guess it was you. But…could you help me get back to Reno?" she asked, suddenly nervous he would just leave her in the middle of the woods. Vincent eyed her for a long moment before sighing in defeat and moving to her, cloak swirling around him.

"All right – come on," he ordered, reaching out and grabbing her hand to pull her after him. She jumped to catch up to his strides, but smiled gratefully at his back. Vincent remained silent, his face expressionless as usual. Something in her eyes when she looked at him had reminded of a child, a lost little girl who didn't know who to turn to.

"_I can hardly leave her wandering around,"_ he sighed to himself.

* * *

"What the hell's going on?" Reno demanded, having woken up and discovered Xoe gone. Not long after, Vincent appeared next to him, a cheerful-looking Xoe in tow. "What're you doing here?" he continued, turning to Vincent. "And where'd ya go?" he finished, glancing at Xoe.

"I went for a walk and got lost. Vincent found me and brought me back," she told him, deciding not to let him know she knew he had lied to her before, understanding he hadn't done it out of a malicious desire to mislead her.

"Hmph," the redhead grunted, obviously unhappy.

"Stop by Tifa's and get some things," Vincent suggested quietly to Reno.

"Huh?" the young man blinked, before realizing Vincent must know what had happened at the lodge. "Seriously?"

"Just don't stay there too long," the man replied, before turning and disappearing back into the forest. Reno stared after him in disbelief for a moment before turning to Xoe, who met his gaze calmly.

"I'm confused," Reno said finally with a defeated sigh, his shoulders slumping. "What the hell is going on? Everything's friggin' nuts lately…"

"Why don't we go to Tifa's in the morning?" Xoe suggested, patting his shoulder. "I'm sure she'll let us stay the night there."

"I don't know if I can stand being there for that long," the redhead groaned, but nodded. "Fine, we'll do that. Not like I got anything else on my plate, after all. C'mon, might as well get some more sleep in before we leave."

"All right," Xoe agreed, and he glanced at her suspiciously before convincing himself she hadn't remembered anything.

* * *

"Well, I'm surprised no one's shown up," Reno muttered, as they pulled up to the back entrance of the bar in Midgar. It was already late afternoon, as the pair hadn't woken up until well past dawn and it had taken them a bit to get their bearings.

"What?" Xoe asked, glancing over his shoulder at him as he stopped the machine.

"Nothing," he shrugged, getting to his feet and helping her off as well. "If she tries to throw us out, I'll just have to bring up Vincent," he added with a groan, and she grinned.

"You make it sound like a punishment," she commented, and he shook his head.

"Never mind," he said, and she rolled her eyes behind his back as she followed him into the back room.

"What're you doing here, Reno?" Tifa asked in surprise, meeting them as they came in. "Rude was here yesterday evening, asking if you'd been here. I said I hadn't seen you in weeks – which I haven't," she added pointedly, hands on her hips. "So what's going on?" she demanded, noticing his bloodstains and haggard look.

"It's a _long_ story," Reno said, waving his hand to emphasize his point. "Vincent said you'd let me spend the night here – please?"

"I think you could use a change of clothes as well," she relented, her gaze moving over to Xoe. "Are you okay?" she checked, and the young woman nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"All right – c'mon, Reno, I'll give you some stuff I've got," Tifa sighed, turning around. The pair exchanged shrugs and followed her up the stairs to the living quarters above the bar.

* * *

"Much better," Reno sighed, having taken a shower while Xoe had something to eat. He was currently sitting on the bed wearing a pair of black boots and equally-dark pants Tifa had given him, while Xoe bandaged up his reopened wounds.

"Is it too tight?" she checked, finishing off another one on his arm.

"Nope – just right," he shook his head, looking around the small room Tifa had lent them for the night. "Any food around?"

"Tifa said you can eat once you get cleaned up," Xoe reminded him. "And that includes the bandages. Arms up so I can get this one," she ordered, and calmly continued to patch him up. The wounds were mostly shallow and had stopped bleeding, but several were rather deep and Reno decided to bandage them just in case.

"Thanks," he added, lowering his arms stiffly when she finished.

"Well, I owe you for all the times you bandaged me up," she shrugged, getting to her feet and replacing the bandages in the drawer they had come from. "Tifa left you a new shirt and things, since yours are too stained to be fixed," she continued, and he noticed she hadn't changed her own outfit.

"I'm assuming your things are all fine," he commented, and she nodded.

"Dirty, but Tifa washed them for me while you were in the shower," she told him, and he snapped his fingers, making a face since her back was to him.

"Damn," he muttered to himself, and blinked innocently as she turned to him suspiciously. "What?"

"I'll be downstairs," she shook her head, rolling her eyes and closing the door behind her.

"Fine!" he called behind her, and shrugged as he looked around for the mentioned clothing. Sitting on the bed was a snug black turtleneck, with a lower neck than normal, and a dark forest-green dress shirt. "Sweet," he grinned, happily putting them and surprised they actually fit him. Tucking the snug shirt into his pants and grabbing the black belt that was next to them, he left the green shirt unbuttoned and hanging out like his other one had been.

Checking the room, he quickly found his tazer in a drawer, together with his lock that attached to his belt so it hung at his side, and cheerfully snapped it on underneath the green shirt before striding out of the room and promptly falling down the stairs.

"Reno – you're an idiot," Tifa shook her head, as he stumbled to his feet and rubbed his head.

"Ow."

"Are you okay?" Xoe asked, trying to hide her giggles.

"You think that's funny?" he asked, donning an offended air and stalking to the table, where several of the children laughed at him as he got his food. The redhead ignored them and dug into his food, while Tifa sighed.

"No…well, you looked so surprised," Xoe admitted, having finished a second helping and merely sitting with the empty plate before her.

"Hpmh," he muttered, shoveling the food into his mouth, trying to avoid the kids' poking and pulling of his hair.

"Xoe told me some of what happened," Tifa informed him, making no effort to shoo the kids off of him. The Turk looked up apprehensively, glancing at the two young women in front of him, but Xoe's face was a complete blank. "I guess you can stay one night, but I don't feel like having more of you around. Tomorrow morning you can grab some supplies and get moving."

"That's fine," he agreed, having moved onto another second helping of food and quickly polishing that off as well. The sky was beginning to grow dark, and Tifa suddenly got to her feet.

"All right, kids – you all have to get to bed, remember?" she reminded them, and was met with a chorus of protests from the group. Reno winced as they clung to him, trying to hide from the advancing woman.

"Aw, c'mon, let go!" he complained, trying to pry them off himself. Xoe closed her eyes in amusement, while Tifa hauled Reno away from the kids.

"He's not a toy," she chided them, fists on her hips. "Let's go, you guys. Or I'll have to tell Cloud about this when he gets back." This threat seemed to have some effect, since they effectively stopped arguing and scattered from the room, banging heard as they clambered up the stairs. "I'll go deal with them – you guys can have more food if you want," Tifa added absently, chasing after the bunch.

"Interesting…are all kids like that?" Xoe asked, turning to Reno, who was trying to smooth himself out.

"Little brats…" he muttered, and looked up when he realized she was talking to him. "Huh? Oh, I guess. I don't know."

"They seemed to like you," she commented, and he snorted.

"That's one I haven't heard before," he replied, finally satisfied he had gotten all trace evidence of children off of him. "Want any more food?" he offered, but she shook her head. "Me either," he shrugged, sitting back down in his chair. "I guess we can leave tonight, if you don't want to stay."

"You just don't want to deal with them anymore," Xoe pointed out with a grin, and he sighed.

"Yeah…all right, we'll spend the night here and leave early morning," he decided, folding his arms behind his head. "What'd ya tell Tifa, anyway?"

"Reno…I remember what happened at the lodge," she said quietly, and he leaned forward in surprise.

"Huh?"

"It came back when I was sleeping last night," she continued. "You didn't have to hide it from me, you know."

"Xoe…"

"I'm not mad," she assured him with a shrug. "It's fine. I understand why you didn't tell me. But at least now it all makes sense."

"I guess," he said reluctantly, leaning back again in the chair. "You sure you're all right? I mean…"

"I'm fine," she nodded, staring down at the plate in front of her.

"Well…" Reno trailed off uncomfortably, completely unsure what to say, and looked up when Tifa came back.

"There…every night. You'd think they'd learn," she shook her head, and glanced at the pair. "Everything all right?"

"Yep – I'm going outside to practice," Reno informed them, getting to his feet. They watched as he ambled from the room, tazer swinging at his side, and Tifa turned to Xoe.

"I'll help you clean up," the young woman offered, and Tifa nodded.

"All right – help me get the dishes to the kitchen, and we can wash them up," she told Xoe, who silently began to gather the plates and silverware up into a pile.

* * *

Please review! 


	10. Report X

Summary; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

Okay, I now know that Tifa and the others live in Kalm, not Midgar, but for the sake of the story - and my sanity! - it'll stay the same. Please don't hurt me. Here's the next chapter.

Please review. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.

* * *

Several hours later, Reno returned from outside, slightly out of breath. Tifa looked up from her paperwork and saw with a glance that he was looking for Xoe, and hid a grin.

"She went to bed a little while ago, Reno," she informed him, bending back over the files. "What were you doing for so long?"

"Practice," he shrugged, fitting his tazer back in its hook. "I needed to warm up."

"I figured as much," Tifa nodded, twirling the pen in her fingers. "I guess you had to get all that frustration out somehow."

"_What_?" Reno demanded, his head snapping around to face her. "What the hell are you insinuating?"

"Nothing," she replied, a small smile on her lips. "Just a thought."

"You should be ashamed of yourself," he growled, glaring at her for a few more moments before turning back around. "I'm going to bed – we'll probably be gone before you get up."

"I doubt it," Tifa called after him, but he ignored her and climbed the stairs, trying to be quiet and avoid waking everyone else up. He pushed the door of their room open slowly, peering in before stepping in and closing the door shut.

He left he light off, noticing Xoe was sleeping on the bed already, fully dressed. She faced the wall on her side, almost against the edge since the bed was shoved against the wall on her side. Shrugging off the collared shirt, he laid his tazer beside the bed carefully and crawled onto his side, deciding to leave the already-taken blankets alone for the time being. After a few minutes of lying stiffly on his back, Reno rolled over with a sigh and closed his eyes, hoping nothing would happen while he decided to get some rest.

* * *

"Heh-heh," Tifa grinned, peering into the room as she headed to bed almost two hours after Reno had disappeared. The sight that met her eyes was amusing, to her, and she took another moment to observe the pair on the bed before stifling another laugh. Xoe was pressed against the wall, her back facing Tifa, while Reno was sleeping on his side with an arm shoved underneath a pillow. What Tifa found reasonable to laugh at was Reno's other arm draped across Xoe's torso, while his left leg was stretched over her own long legs.

"It looks like she's in a shell – of Reno," she murmured, shaking her head as she closed the door. The young fighter had to admit that Reno's current behavior was nothing short of unusual, while his shielding of Xoe while they slept was something new altogether. Deciding to leave them alone, she headed into her own room, checking up on the kids as she passed.

* * *

"Mmm…?" Xoe wondered, waking up as the light hit her eyes. Moving her head slightly, she realized Reno was practically sleeping on top of her, and blinked to wake up completely. "Reno?" she hissed, trying to figure out if he was awake or not. When there was no response after several tries, she sighed and tried to free herself – and found that he had an iron grip, even while sleeping. "You're kidding," she muttered, closing her eyes in irritation. After a moment she heaved a sigh, and began to notice that she was actually pretty comfortable, considering where he was. "Oh well," she shrugged, deciding to get some more sleep.

"You're awake?" Reno asked blearily, one eye cracked open and the other tightly shut to protect itself from the light.

"Yes," she said stiffly, staring back at him.

"We should be going, then," he mumbled, rolling over and hitting the floor with a curse. Xoe shook her head silently, and watched as he got to his feet and stumbled around the room, trying to coordinate his body before he had caffine in his system.

"Are you all right?" she ventured to ask, standing up and trying to straighten out her wrinkled clothing.

"Fine," he managed, and swore again when he walked into the doorframe.

"Maybe we should at least get something to drink," she suggested, but blinked when he fixed a glare on her. "Or not," she amended, shrugging as she followed the redhead out of the door. Within seconds, she winced when he went flying down the stairs, half-uttered swear words floating down after him.

"Graceful," Tifa commented wryly, and Reno opened his eyes to see her standing over him, as he lay sprawled on his back with his legs still on the stairs. Xoe made her way down slowly, pausing to wait for Reno to get off the stairs.

"Bitch," he muttered, rolling over and scrambling to his feet.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you'd like coffee," Tifa continued, and Xoe nodded behind Reno. "I already made some – it's in the kitchen. Help yourself, and leave whenever. Just don't make a scene, all right?"

"Sure," Reno growled, his body language already saying he was stalking the machine in the kitchen like a bear stalks a rabbit. And they don't, which was quite obvious when Reno began yelling at the innocent machine and swearing.

"Thank you, Tifa," Xoe began, but the young woman shrugged.

"I wouldn't have bothered, but Vincent's a friend of Cloud's, and since he sent you I didn't have much choice," she told Xoe, who blinked and then nodded.

"Well, thanks anyway," she repeated, heading into the kitchen calmly.

* * *

"We're going back to the forest?" Xoe asked, hanging onto Reno for dear life as he raced away from Midgar.

"For the time being," he nodded. "It's the best place, actually. With any luck they already looked there, so we'll just be hiding in plain sight, in a way."

"If you say so," the young woman said reluctantly, wishing she could somehow help Reno with all the planning or whatever he was doing, but knowing she was in no way able to be of use. It was most likely a good thing that she didn't realize Reno didn't have a clue what he was doing, and merely playing the whole thing by ear, figuratively speaking, of course.

He knew the only reason they were still loose was his skills as a Turk, but worried that those same skills would end up getting them caught in the end, and preferred not to dwell on those thoughts.

* * *

The sun quickly disappeared as the day passed, and the same dark storm clouds gathered once again, not appearing to going anywhere for the rest of the day. Xoe cast worried glances at the sky, but Reno ignored it as he played with his tazer for a while before growing bored and talking to himself.

"Could you stop that?" she asked suddenly, glancing at him. He looked at her in surprise, hearing the sharpness of her tone. "It's just annoying, sorry," she apologized, looking away quickly, but not before Reno could see the grim set of her mouth.

"Hey, don't worry so much," he said, obligingly dropping his argument with himself about whether Cloud used gel in his hair or not. "We'll be fine, trust me. If I didn't think so we'd be long gone, right?"

"I guess," she sighed, resting her chin on her knees. "I'm just tired of everything. I want to be normal – why is that so hard?"

"Lotsa people want to be normal, Xoe," Reno told her, suddenly insightful. "Everyone thinks everyone else is normal – and know what? No one is. There _is_ no normal," he told her, stretching his hands out in a kind of shrug. "That's why I gave up years ago."

She didn't reply, didn't even turn to look at him, and he sighed.

"Aw, don't think too much about it," he said, trying to comfort her. "If it helps, I don't really care what the hell you think you are. To me, you'll be Xoe – just like I'm Reno, right? If I was anything else, I wouldn't be me, right? Right?" He stared at her, waiting for an answer as he leaned against the tree, and she finally nodded.

"I guess."

"So, if you were anything else than what you are now, you wouldn't be Xoe – you'd be somebody else," he decided, a self-satisfied smirk gracing his features when he realized he had actually made sense when he wasn't drunk.

"I think I actually get that," Xoe realized in astonishment. "I didn't know you had it in you, Reno."

"Thanks a lot," he pouted, but preened for a moment before thunder deafened them. A flash of lightening cut off all vision for a few seconds, and when what was left of his senses returned to him, Reno realized Xoe was clinging to him in fear, her arms almost cutting off all air.

"H-hey," he croaked, prying her loose. "Not so hard!" he begged, and looked up. "It looks like a good storm, this time. Hope you don't mind getting too wet," he sighed, shrugging out of the heavy black jacket he had gotten and pulling it over his head, causing Xoe to giggle nervously.

"You're still going to get wet," she pointed out, but jumped when another roll of thunder echoed in the trees, and she crawled even closer to Reno.

"Yeah, but at least I look like I'm trying," he said lazily, moving the jacket so it formed a little tent over them. "Just keep close, and it'll help some. Trust me," he added absently, peering at the sky in annoyance. When he realized Xoe had moved even closer in an attempt to block out the thunder, he allowed himself a small grin, and changed his glare to a wink of appreciation.

* * *

"I think it's finished now," Reno commented almost an hour later, lowering the dripping jacket and brushing wet hair out of his eyes.

"I hope so," Xoe nodded, her arms still wrapped around his torso. "How come it's still dark out, then?"

"Probably just the clouds moving over," he shrugged, now knowing that wet clothing was not comfortable in the least, especially when one was sitting on the forest floor on top of many other wet things. "Uh…you gonna let go soon?" he asked, suddenly becoming aware that she was as wet as he, and wearing a white shirt to top it all off.

"Yeah," she agreed, reluctantly loosening her grip and sitting a few inches back. She pulled her hair away from her face and let it drip down her back instead, trying to wipe the raindrops away from her eyes. "Does it storm like that around here a lot?" she asked, still looking up at the sky suspiciously. Reno blinked quickly, swallowing down the large lump that had formed in his throat, and forced his eyes to focus on a tree several feet away.

"Not too much," he managed, once more cursing at the sky for the rain.

"I'm going to try to dry off," Xoe told him, breaking his daze.

"Huh?"

"There's a spring nearby – I saw it when I wandered around before," she continued. "I can let my clothes dry there in privacy."

"You shouldn't go off by yourself," Reno argued, but she fixed him with a stubborn stare as she got to her feet.

"I won't be far," she protested, trying to wring her hair out. "I won't be gone long, either, so keep your pants on."

"_Good idea,"_ Reno agreed silently, and shrugged after a few moments. "All right – just yell if ya need me."

"All right," she nodded, obviously relieved he had agreed without putting up a fuss, and turned her back to him as she headed into the trees, leaving his view in moments.

"_This is not good,"_ he groaned to himself, rubbing his hand over his face in an effort to keep certain images from coming back to him.

* * *

"Why are we splitting up?" Elena asked in surprise, as the three remaining Turks stood outside the lodge moments after Shinra had given them the order to hunt down Reno and eliminate him, and to bring Xoe back alive.

"We can cover more ground that way," Tseng said shortly. "I guarantee that he won't go far, not with Xoe along. He won't be able to. I'll go back over the areas we've already covered – Rude, you take the surface of Midgar and see what you can dig up on him. Elena, you take the lower sectors and do the same. If you run into him, don't take him on – call for the others and wait."

"We're not really going to kill him, are we?" the blonde insisted, peering at Tseng. "I mean…I thought you…" Rude remained silent, but glanced up at the window, where they saw Shinra watching them intently. "Oh," she finished quietly, and Tseng nodded sharply.

"Use our frequency once we leave – I'll explain once we're gone," he ordered, going over to his own motorcycle, as the other two headed toward theirs.

"All right," Rude nodded, and Elena copied the motion, showing they understood what he meant by 'our frequency'. It was a comm Tseng had developed for the Turks' use during missions, to avoid being picked up and overheard – one Shinra had no knowledge of, in case anything came up they didn't need, or want, to share. They split up without another word said, feeling Shinra's stare boring into their backs as they headed down the road.

* * *

"So, what's the _real_ plan?" Elena demanded, once they were safely away from the lodge. She and Rude were still together, since they were both headed for Midgar, while Tseng had left them in the woods.

"If you find him, don't approach – that means you, Rude," Tseng told them, his voice coming clear over the connection. "I need to talk to Reno myself. I think he's still in the woods. But make an effort in Midgar – Shinra could still be keeping an eye on us. Rude, go to Tifa's and explain the situation, and see if she knows where they went, or where Cloud or Vincent is. Elena, go down below and check to make sure I'm not wrong and that they're not hiding there."

"Gotcha, Tseng," Rude agreed calmly, having remained silent since Reno had taken off.

"Once I find him, I'll let you two know," Tseng promised, before signing off.

* * *

"Uck…everything _sticks_," Xoe complained to herself, peeling her shirt off while sitting on a damp rock near the spring. The sun had come out not long ago, but had dried the rocks off enough that she could lay her clothing in the sun to dry. Once she was down to her black bikini-cut underwear and slim skin-tone bra, she crossed her arms over her shoulders to cover herself and sat back down, dangling her feet in the cold water.

"I wonder what's the matter with Reno," she wondered, frowning to herself as she thought of his strange attitude. Elena had never had the time – or taken the opportunity to embarrass Reno – and had a discussion with Xoe, leaving the young woman ignorant of certain aspects of human nature.

"I hope he's not sick," she added, and reached out to feel her clothing. "Still wet," she muttered, not exactly comfortable sitting in the forest practically naked.

* * *

"The sun's going down," Reno noticed, glancing up at the sky almost two hours later. "She's been gone for a while," he thought, and glanced around uneasily. He got to his feet and paced around for a few more minutes, having taken off the black turtleneck and left it hanging on the bike to dry off, leaving the green shirt halfway unbuttoned and hanging loose as usual.

"I'm being an idiot," he told himself sternly, but he couldn't help worrying about the young woman.

"_You jackass – you know she's drying her clothes!"_

"But she's been gone for a while," he argued, but knew the voice inside his head was something he should listen to for once. But, since Reno wasn't in the habit of listening to people – or things – he grabbed his tazer and headed off determinedly, not thinking of what could happen once he found her.

* * *

Not much longer passed until Reno came upon the spring Xoe had been talking about, and followed it one way until he heard noises coming a little ways away from him. Ducking behind the foliage, he crept up and stayed behind a bush while he located her.

"_Bad idea,"_ the voice told him instantly, and Reno was forced to agree as his mouth went completely dry, seeing a barely-dressed Xoe try to get into her stiff skirt. Her breasts weren't large by any means, but she was certainly well-endowed, and it was the first time he had seen her anything but fully dressed. He froze as she pulled her skirt on, and felt his blood heat up as she stretched with a yawn, lifting her arms above her head and rolling her head around before leaning down and pulling her shirt on.

Suddenly, she paused, her shirt half-pulled down, and looked around nervously, her eyes wide.

"Is someone there?" she called, having felt a prickling on the back of her neck, as if she was being watched.

Reno decided not to let her panic, and hurried out of the bushes toward her, a bit embarrassed but trying to pretend he had just appeared.

"I came looking for you – it's been a while," he added, and she peered at him.

"Sorry – do you feel all right? You're awfully red," she pointed out, lifting her hand to press her palm against his forehead gently. She had only had time to get her skirt and shirt on, and had to stand on tiptoe to reach him. The gesture moved her closer to the redhead, and he was suddenly acutely aware of her body pressed softly against him.

"I'm…I'm fine," he croaked, almost shaking his head but thinking better of it. She only gazed at him, unwilling to believe him, and he suddenly took her hand and pulled her flush against him.

"Reno?" she asked, as his other arm slinked around her hips. "Is something here?" she pressed, thinking he was trying to shield her from something. Her eyes scanned the area around, but was unable to see anything unusual.

"Nothing's here, relax," he assured her huskily, and she looked back up at him in confusion. The small voice inside him was screaming at him to let her go, but he ignored everything else and bent his head slightly down towards her.

"Then what –" she began, but was cut off when he pressed his lips to her own hungrily, lifting her slightly off the ground in his passion. She froze for a moment, not knowing what was going on, and then tried to protest. Reno only took the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth, but she slapped his shoulder in an effort to get away from him. The smack rattled him, and he let her drop as he caught his breath.

"Xoe, I can –" he started, but she backed away from him, eyes filled with fear. It stung him to realize he had caused her to be frightened, and had the sense not to move towards her. "It was a – where the hell are you going?" he shouted, jumping when she suddenly whirled around and sprinted off into the trees without warning. _"**Damn** it!"_ he swore, taking off after her but falling over into the spring headfirst. Scrambling to his feet, he searched the area in a panic, but there was – surprisingly – no sign of her.

* * *

Finally, some action between the two of them! I'm trying to make Tseng and the others act in character, but since I don't know too much about them, it's a little hard. Please review.


	11. Report XI

Summary; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter

Hey, here's an update - finally. Sorry for taking so long, whoever reads this. I hope this satisfies you!

Please review if you read. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.

* * *

Xoe tried to catch her breath as she ran through the forest, her fear giving her feet the speed she needed to get away. Several tears trailed down her face, and she had no idea what was wrong with the whole situation. Reno's sudden actions had scared her, however, and her mind was anything but clear as she pressed deeper, unaware of the darkening sky. She got fairly far away before tripping over an exposed root, and fell down with a 'thud'.

"Ow!" she cried, and winced when she tried to get back up. Realizing she had twisted it, she resisted the urge to burst out in tears and took several deep breaths, trying to remember if there was anything she could do. Twisting around, she leaned back against the tree and brushed the tears from her face, shaking her head with a shaky sigh. She had no idea what she could possibly do, but was aware that if she panicked further she could make things a lot worse.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and hugged herself tightly, shivering from the chill in the air.

* * *

"I'm an _asshole_!" Reno shouted, coming back to the camp and dropping the rest of her clothing by the motorcycle. "Fuck this shit," he muttered, running his hand through his hair in irritation. "What the fuck am I supposed to do now?" he demanded to nothing in particular. His head shot up when he heard a howl nearby, and his grip tightened on his tazer.

"Aw, shit!" he complained, and quickly took off again.

* * *

"What was that?" Xoe wondered, raising her head when a noise reached her ears. Looking around nervously, she pressed up as close as she could to the tree, wishing she had a weapon of some kind when the noises grew closer. She swallowed a scream when a large wolf strode from the trees, snarling hungrily and eyeing her.

She wasn't sure what it was, but she was positive it was going to try to eat her, and pushed herself to her feet slowly.

"Uh…good…boy?" she guessed, and winced when it snapped at her.

"Fuck off, ya fleabag!" Reno shouted, racing towards the wolf, his tazer outstretched. He clocked the animal on the head roughly, sending it flying away, and moved in front of Xoe in case it decided to come back. Luckily, it had had enough of crazy humans, and slunk off growling.

"R-Reno…"

"Are you all right?" he asked quickly, turning around to look at her. She opened her mouth to answer, and winced when her leg buckled. "What happened to your leg?" he demanded, dropping into a crouch and reaching out to touch it. She quickly withdrew from his touch, and he leaned back to look at her in surprise before sighing. "Listen, Xoe…before, that was…well, uh…I'm sorry about it. I wasn't going to hurt you."

"You scared me," she told him quietly, staring at the ground away from him. "But I'm sorry I ran off."

"At least ya didn't go far," he shrugged, and reached out again for her leg. "Now, lemme look at it."

"I think I twisted something," Xoe said, and jumped when he prodded her calf. "Ow!"

"A sprain – not too bad, I think," he sighed, and bounced upright easily. "I'll have to carry you back. We can go to Tifa's for bandages and ointment. Come on."

"I can walk," she protested, but he shook his head.

"Not on that leg," he informed her, and grinned with an idea. "I'll piggy-back you!"

"What's that?" she asked curiously, and blinked when he bent over.

"Here – I carry you on my back," he explained. "Just sit on my back, like you do the motorcycle. And hold on to my neck – not tight," he added quickly, slowly straightening out. He had a firm grip on each of Xoe's legs, and she shifted uncomfortably as the skirt rode up higher. "See? Not that bad," he shrugged, beginning the hike back.

"No, I guess not," she admitted, but tightened her grip when he gave her a bounce. "Reno!"

"Sorry – sorry, stop choking me!" he protested, gagging a little when she squeezed his throat.

* * *

"Hey, looky what I got here!" he crowed triumphantly, going through a pack on the machine. "Bandages!" he smirked, and strode over to where Xoe was sitting on a stone. "Here – we'll just brace it with this so it can heal better," he told her, falling onto his behind and adjusting himself comfortably before beginning to wrap the leg. Crossing his legs Indian-style, he bent over as he bandaged the leg that was propped up on his lap, while Xoe sat upright against a tree trunk.

"What's going on here?" Tseng asked in amusement, scaring the daylights out of the two runaways.

"Tseng! What the hell?" Reno shouted, jumping to his feet in shock.

"Didn't mean to scare you – although I'm surprised I did," he added dryly, and Reno glared at him.

"Shut up. What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, but Tseng raised his hand in a gesture of peace.

"Go back to bandaging her leg, Reno. I knew you'd screw something up sooner or later. Rude and Elena are in Midgar, but I thought you'd still be here," Tseng continued, as Reno suspiciously returned to adjusting the bandages on Xoe's calf. "Lucky for me, I was right. Shinra gave us orders to kill you and bring her back alive, you know."

Reno tensed at this announcement, but didn't look up. Xoe looked from one man to the other nervously, unsure what Tseng was doing there.

"Shinra is hardly acting in the company's interests, however," Tseng said calmly. "And our job is to protect the company. So, we're not out to kill you, Reno. Or bring her back."

"So, what _are_ you doing here?" Reno demanded stiffly, finished with her leg and turning around on the ground as she folded the leg underneath her.

"You can hardly stay here," the Turk informed him. "I can arrange for you to go to Kalm – that's far enough away, and relatively remote anyway. I already have a story to tell Shinra, so leave your things here."

"Huh?"

"Just do it and follow me," Tseng ordered, turning his back on them. "I have a motorcycle we can use to get to Midgar. You can get to Kalm from there. Now, come on." The tall man began to stride off without them, and Reno quickly jumped to his feet and offered a hand to Xoe, pulling her to her feet.

"Better do what the boss says," Reno said grudgingly, still suspicious of Tseng but deciding there was nothing better to do, especially since he knew where they were, and jogged off after him through the trees with Xoe on his back.

* * *

"We're gonna be _where_?" Reno demanded loudly, in a room above Tifa's bar with the other Turks. "You're a lunatic! A completely psycho! Rude, tell him!"

"It does seem rather strange," his friend admitted, having obviously been relieved when they had arrived in Midgar.

"Cid is only there for a few days on business – after that, you'll be by yourselves," Tseng said stiffly, annoyed at having to repeat himself. "But Tifa agreed to talk to him, and he's decided to help us in exchange for some payment. Which isn't much of a problem," he added.

"Okay, so we'll be stuck with a psycho drunk," Reno began, and Elena snorted.

"I don't see what the big deal is. It'll be like having two Renos," she said innocently, and Reno shot her a glare before focusing his aggravation once more on Tseng.

"If you're this upset over Cid, then I'm glad I'll be far away when you meet whose building you're staying in," Tseng said dryly, and Reno gasped before narrowing his eyes.

"Who?"

"…"

"_Who_!"

"Yuffie's."

"**_What_**."

"Calm down, Reno," Xoe said quickly, grabbing his arm before he lunged at Tseng, who watched his subordinate with obvious pleasure.

"She won't be there – at least, she shouldn't be," the boss added, before shrugging slightly. "Reno, you and Xoe are leaving in an hour with a supply transport to Kalm. We'll wait until you've left Midgar before returning."

"I need a drink," Reno sighed, stomping downstairs. Rude paused for a moment before following his friend, deciding to spend the hour drinking with him like they usually did. Xoe remained standing, looking a bit lost, and Tseng turned his attention to her after a moment.

"I plan on telling Shinra we found you," he began slowly. "You lost your temper, as you did in the lodge, and attacked us. You killed Reno in the process, and then grew overwhelmed with the energy inside you and died as well. It's neat, clean, and plausible," he finished, and she examined him for a moment before speaking.

"Why are you helping Reno? Is it really because of Shinra?" she asked, and he nodded.

"As I explained to you in the forest, he is not acting in the company's best interests. The best thing is for the two of you to disappear entirely. You'll stay in Kalm for a few months before I move you farther away, across the ocean."

"Why are you telling me this?" she prodded, and their gazes locked for a moment before he told her.

"You've matured a great deal since you arrived – and even more since you discovered what you are. I can sense that about you, and I believe you might have to keep Reno from trouble quite a bit," Tseng said. "You may tell Reno the story once you're on your way to Kalm. I don't need him losing his temper in Midgar and causing even more of a scene. This needs to be nonexistent – you understand?"

"Yes," she said, looking a little uncomfortable but not saying anything further.

"You need better clothes than that – besides, if he doesn't believe us, it's not good to be wearing the same thing," Elena said critically, stepping forward. "Come on, we'll find something for you to wear in Kalm before you leave."

"All right," Tseng nodded, giving his permission, and Elena led Xoe from the room.

* * *

"These will do – they're not very conspicuous, which is most important," Elena told her, watching as Xoe pulled on the new clothes they had found. She had kept her boots, but wore wide black pants that rested on her hips, with a black belt holding them in place. A snug pale-blue shirt, with a high neck that went up her throat, ended at her midriff, with long loose sleeves that had several holes in them, leaving her shoulders and elbows bare.

"Are you sure?" Xoe asked, reaching for the fitted black trenchcoat that she had found and tugging it on.

"Trust me, it's fine," the blond assured her, not very pleased at having to take care of the young woman again, but pleased she was able to help Tseng in any way.

"Doesn't Reno need new clothes?" she persisted, but Elena only shook her head.

"He changed out of his uniform – he's fine," she said shortly, and Xoe shrugged as she followed the female Turk out of the room they had borrowed from Tifa and into the bar area. Reno was slouched over the counter on a stool, a glass firmly in his grip, while Rude nursed his own drink. "He's not wasted, is he?" Elena asked suspiciously, coming closer and wrinkling her nose at Reno. Xoe noticed that Reno had apparently changed anyway, and was wearing a white T-shirt underneath a black dress shirt, having discarded the heavy clothing, while his jacket was slung over his shoulder absently.

"I don't think so," Rude shrugged, and resumed drinking.

"Reno?" Xoe checked, moving next to him and peering at him. Being as short as she was, she didn't even have to bend over to stare at him. "Are you there?" she asked, trying not to laugh as she waved her hand in front of his face. She blinked in surprise when he caught it and held it firmly, using his other hand to drain his glass.

"Where'd Tseng go?" he asked casually, Xoe's hand still caught in his grip as he turned to Elena calmly.

"Uh…I'm not sure," she admitted, a little surprised by his actions. Rude appeared unruffled as ever, and only pushed his shades back up his nose.

"I'm right here," the Turk leader said coolly, coming down the stairs and observing the scene before him with calm amusement as usual. "What is it? You don't have much time left before you have to leave, so I suggest you stop drinking and get yourself together."

"Eh," Reno waved his hand dismissively at the man, holding out his empty glass for a refill. Xoe continued to try to pull her hand away, beginning to lose feeling in her fingers, and sighed in relief when Rude tapped Reno on the shoulder as a reminder, and the Turk abruptly released her silently.

"Whew," she sighed, taking a seat and watching the Turks curiously. Tseng remained standing and watching, while Elena shook her head in disgust at Reno and Rude's relaxed attitude. "How are we getting to Kalm?" she asked after a moment, and Tseng turned his head in reply.

"A regular shipment goes there once a month to deliver supplies and anyone who travels back and forth," he told them. "Lucky for us, they were delayed a bit because of a storm in Kalm, so they're leaving today. You two are going to use that – and you'll leave now, or you'll be late," he added, glancing sharply at his watch. Reno sighed loudly and tipped his head back in an effort to drain his glass quickly, leaving it on the counter as he pulled his jacket on and shoved his hand in his pocket, tazer securely hidden underneath the shirt.

"C'mon, then," the redhead ordered, moving towards the door and pausing as he opened it. "Uh…where is it?" he asked, turning around in confusion. Elena's palm moved to her forehead as she shook her head once again, and Rude only got to his feet silently. Tseng sighed loudly and strode toward the door, moving ahead of Reno and walking outside.

"I'll take you there. Elena, you and Rude wait here for me," he added, waiting until Xoe and Reno had caught up before turning his back to the other Turks and quickly heading down the street.

"You okay, Rude?" Elena asked suddenly, turning to the silent man behind her. He only shrugged, staring at the bar counter in front of him, and the blond sighed to herself in aggravation.

* * *

"There aren't many people here," Xoe commented quietly, leaning against Reno as the truck bumped from side to side, making its way through the rocky terrain toward the town of Kalm, where Reno had remembered that Vincent sometimes occupied. Several merchants sat together, comparing wares as they rested on the benches that lined the back of the truck, and a small family of four was toward the back, the mother comforting the two young children while the father studied something.

"Mm," he grunted, arms crossed as he considered his options. Running out of the truck was out of the question, with Xoe along, and leaving Kalm was impossible as well, since Tseng was sure to keep an eye on them somehow. Reno muttered something under his breath, and glanced over at the young woman beside him when she suddenly yawned despite herself. There were only two windows in the truck, on the back door, and it was fairly dark to begin with.

"Sorry," she apologized, but he shrugged.

"Tired? Go to sleep," he suggested. "We have a while before we get there. And when we do, we have to wander around town, so it's better we're not tired."

"I'm fine," she argued, but hugged herself lightly and rested her head on the Turk's shoulder heavily, quickly rocked to sleep by the motions of the truck. Reno waited until he was sure she was asleep before shifting around and draping his arm around her shoulders, while his other arm remained in his lap. His head dipping forward, Reno found himself falling asleep as well, and closed his eyes before he would start yawning.

* * *

"Hm? Are we there yet?" Xoe asked sleepily, as Reno shook her awake a few hours later.

"Nope," he said, shaking his head, and leaning forward slightly. His voice was lowered so she had to remain close to hear him, and he had a slight frown on his face. "I'm not sure if we'll have any trouble, since we're getting close. It'd be best if you were awake."

"Oh," she blinked, rubbing her eyes for a moment before rolling her shoulders since she had little room to stretch. "Do you think we'll have any?" she prodded after another moment, and he glanced briefly at her before shrugging, apparently caught up in his own thoughts. She observed him for another moment before leaning back, the tenseness in his body reminding her that the man with her was a honed killing machine, trained to do whatever it took to survive.

"Hey, Reno?" Xoe ventured after a few minutes, and he looked at her in slight surprise. She guessed she had broken his train of thought, but pushed forward anyway. "Where did you grow up? Where're you from?"

"That's a weird question," he shrugged. She waited for him to say something else, but it soon became obvious he wasn't going to.

"Sorry," she murmured, turning her head away to look out the small windows in the back of the truck, deciding not to say anything else before he did. Reno remained silent for a while longer before glancing at her sheepishly.

"I don't talk about it much," he told her by way of apology, and she nodded in acknowledgment.

"That's all right," Xoe said quietly. "I didn't mean to cause any pain."

"You didn't," he said hastily, realizing where she was going with that. "It's not that damn painful – I just moved a lot. So I didn't grow up in any one place," he assured her. "That's why. You didn't cause anything."

"If you say so," she replied, obviously not believing him. He sighed in aggravation, and the other passengers looked at him strangely for a moment before continuing their business. Xoe sat up a little straighter when she heard murmurings from the front, and Reno looked up when the driver's voice called back to them.

"We're almost at Kalm, people," he informed them, before returning to his radio. Xoe became aware she felt excited at visiting the city, however small, while Reno looked like he was going to be kicked while he was down.

* * *

Well? Please review.


	12. Report XII

Summary; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

Warning: Strong language, thanks to Cid and Reno. Cid's great to write, though!

Thanks for all the reviews you guys have given me so far! Here's the next chapter - some humor, and a little dark hint at what might be to come. Nothing I'm telling, though.

Please review. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.

* * *

"It looks like a quiet town," Xoe commented, looking around as Reno helped her out of the truck. She remained close to his side as they began to navigate the narrow streets, her gaze fixed upward at the high buildings.

"Yeah, for the most part," he grunted, keeping a firm grip above her elbow as he searched for the right house. "Damn, they all look alike," Reno griped, "I thought Cid was supposed to meet us here, the bastard."

"Who're you calling a bastard, you red-headed asshole?" a voice demanded sternly, and Reno jumped in surprise when he saw Cid glaring at them from a doorstep.

"Where the hell _where _you?" Reno yelped, but Cid ignored him as he strode forward, peering closely at Xoe.

"The name's Cid," he introduced himself, shoving his hand out awkwardly. Xoe stared at him for a moment before sheepishly taking his hand, blinking in surprise when he pumped it up and down heartily before releasing her. "Come on, let's get you two something to drink," he muttered, turning his back abruptly, as was his usual manner.

"Is he always like that?" she whispered to Reno, jogging to keep up with their long strides. The Turk only grunted, obviously pissed off, and jumped again when Cid whirled on them with a frown on his face.

"Like what, missy?" he argued, and Xoe squeaked when he bent down to stare in her face. "You gotta problem, missy?"

"Cut it out, you motherfu–" Reno began in irritation, but yelped when Cid suddenly straightened and backhanded him with a glare, before resting his fists on his hips and looking like he was going to smack the redhead again.

"Don't you use language like that in front of me, you little prick," the older man ordered, ignoring Reno's surprised expression. "It offends the hell outta me, you got that? So keep your damn mouth fucking clean."

"You…you…" Reno stammered, unable to think of anything to say to that sentence. Xoe watched the two in surprise, somehow liking the coarse stranger despite herself, noticing the javelin on his back, and blinked in concentration as she tried to understand what they were saying. Reno abruptly realized this fact, and spun around in a panic to face her. "And don't you repeat any of this!" he insisted, and groaned when she only looked at him blankly.

"Sure thing, _mother_," Cid snickered, beginning to walk down the streets once more. "Come on, you two. Shera's making some tea for us if we ever get the hell back there," he told them, and Reno dropped his head in defeat as they followed Cid once more, this time in complete silence.

* * *

"Oh, hello," Cid's wife greeted them pleasantly, apparently having just finished boiling the pot. "You're just in time. I'm Shera."

"Nice to meet you," Xoe replied with a smile, relieved to see someone who at least appeared to be sane for once.

"Aren't ya gonna introduce yourself?" Cid growled, and Shera only continued to smile as Reno winced, having absolutely no energy to deal with the psychotic pilot and his wife at the same time.

"Pleased. Reno," he mumbled, rubbing his hand over his eyes as if to block out the images in his head.

"I've warned the boy to keep his mouth clean while we're here," Cid added, and Reno glared at him indignantly.

"Me?! _You're_ the bad influence!" the poor Turk protested. "I can't help it with you arou–!"

"Siddown and drink your goddamn tea," Cid interrupted, shoving two cups of steaming tea into their faces.

"I don't think I've ever had this before," Xoe said thoughtfully, and both Cid and Shera looked shocked.

"Really? Well, this is a perfect opportunity for you to try it, then," the woman said, sitting down after she had poured tea for herself and her husband. Reno swallowed most of the drink at once, stubbornly ignoring the searing pain and glaring back at Cid with open hostility, while Xoe sipped it carefully.

"It tastes…different," she said thoughtfully. "I've only had coffee before."

"Well, of course it's gonna taste different then!" Cid growled, sitting down with a thud. "Tea's much better than that pig-slop called coffee."

"Hey!" Reno protested, but decided it wasn't worth it and returned to finishing his own drink in irritation.

"How was the trip here?" Shera asked, trying her darndest to make small talk despite the two men trying to slaughter each other with their eyes in her kitchen.

"It was all right. I've never been in a truck before," Xoe replied calmly. She knew that Tseng had explained most things to Cid and his wife, and wasn't worried about pretending things.

"You haven't? I can't imagine that it was very exciting," the other woman offered, wrinkling her nose in sympathy.

"No, but nothing is completely boring with Reno around," Xoe admitted, causing Cid to stifle a bellow of laughter when Reno groaned.

"Is there anything alcoholic in this house?" he asked pathetically, and Shera shook her head.

"If you want to drink, there's a bar a little ways in town," she told him sternly. "I've told Cid I'm not going to have anything like that in my house." The big man sighed audibly and shrugged, almost looking apologetic, before getting to his feet.

"I can take ya there if ya want," he suggested, but Reno's eyes widened in horror at the idea.

"No! No thanks – I'm just going to bed," he said hastily, shooting to his feet and climbing the stairs in record time, apparently determined to find his own way to a bedroom.

"I hope he don't take our room," Cid grunted, sitting back down with a shrug. Xoe looked vaguely uncomfortable at being suddenly left alone with the two people, and Shera seemed to sense it in her usual quiet way.

"Would you like me to show you the room I prepared for you and Reno?" Shera asked calmly. "Since Cid and I will be gone in a few days, I thought I should move a few things around to make it easier for you both."

"Oh…thank you," Xoe stammered, taken aback by the woman's manner. The young woman had become accustomed to the Turks' blunt and sometimes harsh attitudes, and Shera's calm and peaceful manner was a completely unnerving experience for her.

"Well, follow me," the woman said, getting to her feet and gesturing to Xoe. "With any luck, Reno already found it."

"Sleep as long as ya want," Cid added with a grunt, and Xoe blinked at him in surprise before smiling back with a nod.

"Thank you," she waved, shadowing Shera as they climbed the stairs to the second floor.

"This is the bathroom – and that is our room," Shera pointed out, moving down the small and narrow hall. "I apologize that it's so small – we only use it when we have business here, and that's only once or twice a year," she added apologetically, but Xoe shook her head.

"Not a problem at all – I like it," she insisted, and Shera laughed briefly before opening the third a bit quietly, peering in before stepping back to let Xoe in.

"He's already asleep," she commented, and Xoe peered at the young man intently for a moment before closing the door gently, remaining in the hall with Shera.

"Reno has gone through a lot," Xoe said simply, pleased that he was able to get a decent sleep for once. She noticed he had taken the time to undress, wearing only his pants as he lay sprawled out on top of the blankets. "Are there any books here? I enjoy them."

"Yes, we have some downstairs," Shera nodded, turning around. "There are three rooms downstairs, by the way – the kitchen, living room, and a small room I use for storage. There isn't much in there, however."

"I'll look around soon," Xoe nodded, knowing she would have plenty of time to explore the small building to her satisfaction, but looking forward to reading something right now.

* * *

"I told ya to quit doin' that," Cid muttered, sitting up in bed late that night, careful not to wake his wife. "What now? I thought ya had yer own damn house."

"I heard they arrived," Vincent said calmly, standing near the window.

"The redhead's asleep in the other room – I think she's still downstairs," the pilot informed his friend grumpily. "You could've found that out easily enough."

"No one followed them?"

"No one except you, that's for damn sure," Cid grinned. "You thought I didn't notice? Go downstairs and look for yourself – they're fine."

"Thanks," Vincent nodded, having fully intended to search the house anyway and making his way out of the room silently.

"Damn it," Cid grumbled, laying back down and rolling onto his side. "Now I'll never get back to sleep…"

* * *

"He's certainly sleeping soundly – there must not be anyone around," Vincent said thoughtfully, retreating from the room Reno was snoring in. "Either that, or he's just losing his edge quickly," he added with a slight sneer, turning down the idea of waking the Turk up to scare him before heading downstairs. Peering briefly into the kitchen, he found Xoe curled up in a chair, a book on the floor by her side, having obviously been dropped when she fell asleep.

"There's nothing strange about her now," the man assured himself with a frown. The fact that there was nothing off about her aura now gave him some concern, and he wondered if the energy inside her hadn't merely been absorbed back, but had meshed more completely with her as well. Bending over her, he stared at her for a long moment, trying to decide whether to wake her and question her, when she suddenly moved and opened her eyes.

Gasping when she saw someone standing over her, Vincent smoothly clamped his hand over her mouth before she could scream and reassured her.

"You remember me, don't you?" he demanded, and she nodded shakily after a moment, needing the pause to recover her senses. "I also have a small location here where I stay occasionally," he began, removing his hand and stepping back. "I intend to come here often to ensure nothing is wrong."

"Why?" she asked quietly, sitting up straighter. "I thought you said you didn't care, as long as I didn't do anything."

"I know many people in this town – I have protected them before," he informed her stiffly. "It is my concern, and you are a threat." Xoe appeared hurt by his words, but didn't argue with them. Instead, she nodded slowly and sighed.

"I know I am. But Tseng said it was safe here – did he know you live here? He didn't say anything about it," she asked, realizing the coincidence behind it all.

"He does," Vincent nodded. "Only because I allowed them to know. Reno isn't doing his job," he added, but she shook her head.

"No – he needs sleep," she argued, much to his surprise. "He's protected me so much since I first arrived…now that I know what I am, maybe I can protect him. Just once."

"Don't do anything stupid," he warned, before suddenly disappearing. She took a second to realize he was gone before shrugging and picking the book up, returning it to its place without comment. Quietly climbing up the stairs, she made her way into the bedroom silently and took off her shoes, hesitating for a moment before gently lowering herself onto the mattress and curling up against Reno's chest, pulling a pillow out from under him to use.

* * *

"_Hm,"_ Reno thought ruefully, waking up a little to find the young woman against him. Stifling a yawn, he closed his eyes and shifted his arm over her hips, careful not to wake her up, and relaxed a second time, ready to go back to sleep. He paused, however, when he saw a frown cross her face, and watched her for a moment before realizing she was having a bad dream.

"Yo, Xoe," he whispered, but it had no effect. He shook the arm that was across her, moving her around a little, but that didn't wake her up either. "Xoe, wake up," he prodded, bracing himself up on the other arm and shaking her a little more roughly, a little startled when she whimpered as if in pain.

"_Damn it,"_ he thought, and jumped when her body jolted as if something raced through it, and she stiffened painfully.

"Wake up already!" he urged, shaking her hard and almost lifting her upright. She gasped as he eyes opened wide, before she let out a deep breath when she saw Reno looking at her with worry.

"Oh."

"Whaddya mean, 'oh'?" he demanded, more than a little startled at her behavior. "You scared me! You were having one hell of a dream, it sounded like," he added, and she fell silent before shrugging, looking away to avoid his gaze. "What's wrong?" he pressed, but she remained still, his hands still gripping her below the shoulders as if he was going to shake her again.

"I'm fine," she said quietly, as they both half-knelt on the bed. Reno stared at her blankly for a moment before suddenly pulling her against his torso, resting his head on top of hers. They remained quiet for what seemed like a long moment before Xoe wrapped her arms around him as well, resting her full weight against him, listening to his heart beating, when a thought struck her like lightening.

"_I don't have a heartbeat,"_ she realized with a shock. After the initial surprise, she accepted it calmly, not sure why she was able to, but knowing she could. Sighing heavily, she closed her eyes and enjoyed being held by the young man, wondering how long she had before it had to end.

"You're not fine," he mumbled after a bit, breaking the thick silence. "If you were, you wouldn't have those nightmares. I'm here for you."

"I know," she whispered, nodding slightly against his chest before squeezing him even tighter, almost desperately. "I know, Reno."

"I hope ya do," he grunted, reluctantly releasing her and staring into her eyes. "Promise?"

"I will," she agreed, knowing what he wanted. However, she felt that if she told him everything she realized, it would be break him – and she wanted him to last as long as she could be with him, and long after she was gone, silently giving the absent Rude an order to make sure the redhead didn't do anything reckless once she wasn't with him.

"I'm hungry," Reno said finally, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and reaching for his shirt. "You hungry?"

"Yes," she nodded, realizing that she actually was. She stood up as well, stretching briefly to loosen her joints, before finding a brush and digging through the knots in her hair with determination for a few minutes while Reno finished dressing – which wouldn't have taken quite so long if he hadn't forgotten where his weapon was.

"Those two're up," he commented, hand resting on the doorknob for a moment as he waited for her to finish. "I hear Cid."

"They're certainly interesting," Xoe ventured, following the redhead out of the room. His only response was a grunt, which she could have taken several ways.

* * *

"We'll be leavin' tonight," Cid informed them briskly, turning as they reached the kitchen. "So ya'll better appreciate what Shera's cooked up for ya, got that?"

"I know I will," Xoe nodded eagerly, taking a seat and eyeing appreciatively the food Shera placed in front of her. "It looks delicious."

"Thank you," the woman replied, pleased at the compliment, as she served Reno next. Cid had already received his breakfast, and finished it up while watching the two carefully, gauging their reactions. Apparently, they were to his satisfaction, as he smirked and leaned back in his chair.

"She's the best cook this side of Midgar," the man commented, obviously waiting for agreement. Reno only nodded, his mouth stuffed to full capacity as he ate like a starving wolf as usual, while Xoe looked up in surprise before nodding in agreement.

"Most definitely," she said thickly, barely managing to swallow her food and coughing slightly as it made its way down.

"I appreciate the flattery," Shera laughed, sitting down without food.

"Aren't you hungry?" Xoe asked, but the woman shook her head.

"No – I ate earlier, while you were still in bed. I trust you slept well?" Shera checked, and Xoe nodded once again.

"I did, thanks," she said, lying through her teeth and doing it quite well. Reno paused slightly, food halfway to his mouth and looking up, before polishing off his food, reflecting with satisfaction on the lack of children around, and mourning the loss of alcohol.

* * *

The day passed rather quietly, considering Reno and Cid got into an argument over something every hour, while Shera taught Xoe a few recipes to cook. Luckily, the young woman was able to learn decently in a short time, and thoroughly enjoyed the time she was able to spend with the other female, who was quite different from the Turk Elena.

"Behave yerselves," Cid grunted, hefting his spear onto his shoulder as Shera held a small traveling bag. "Contact us if ya need anythin', ya hear me, missy?"

"What about me?" Reno demanded, while Xoe nodded. Cid eyed the redhead for a moment before turning back to Xoe, with a wink in his eye.

"And lemme know if he does anything inappropriate," he added, deciding to get one last barb in before leaving. "I'll fix 'em good."

"Cut that out!" the Turk shouted in irritation, and Shera laughed quietly as Xoe nodded again solemnly, going along with the joke.

"I'll do that," she promised, and Reno turned to her in shock.

"You too?"

"Have fun, you two!" Shera waved, as Cid abruptly turned and began to stalk down the street, never much one for partings. "And be sure to let us know if something happens!"

"Of course!" Xoe replied with a smile, returning the wave as Reno shrugged and pointed with his tazer for a moment, his equivalent of a wave. "I'm sorry to see them leave," the young woman said, once the couple was out of sight. She looked up at Reno curiously, waiting for a reply. "Aren't you?"

"Hm? Yeah, I guess," he shrugged again, turning back towards the house. "Want to do anything special?"

"I was going to finish the book I started," she began, and paused when he groaned audibly, reminded of the time he had spent babysitting her in the beginning. "Unless you wanted to do something else," she added quickly, but he shook his head with a sudden grin.

"Nah, I don't mind. I think I'm gonna go out to get something with alcohol in it, though. I've been sober too long," he said, and then sighed when he felt her eyes boring into his back. "All right, not sober. Deprived, that better?"

"Much," Xoe nodded with a smile, reassure that the Turk wasn't going to get drunk anytime soon.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed it! I loved doing Cid - my dad reminds me of him, with the language. But my dad uses the 'f' a lot...ah well. Please review.


	13. Report XIII

Summary; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

My god, I'm finally updating! (gasps) I've had a lot of troubles come at me, including illness and writers' block, so excuse my late update, please. Thanks to three people who reviewed last chapter, by the way! I did my best...I'm sorry...(cries) This story won't be going much longer - it's all beginning to wrap up. At least one more, maybe two or three chapters. I'm not quite sure at this point, sorry.

Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.

* * *

"Are you feeling all right, Reno?" Xoe asked a few days later, noticing how quiet the boisterous redhead had been following Cid and Shera's departure. "You've been awfully quiet."

"I'm allowed to be quiet," he snapped, and instantly regretted it when she stared at him in shock. "I'm sorry, Xoe – I'm just tired," he tried, but she was already stepping away from him, looking hurt.

"No, I didn't mean to be bothering you. I think I'm going to finish the book I started yesterday," she said quietly, not meeting his repentant gaze. "Let me know when you get hungry, and I can make something."

"Damn it!" the Turk swore, slamming his palm onto the table after she left the room. Reno was never very honest with himself, preferring to drink and forget his problems for a while, and the fact that he hadn't touched anything alcoholic since they arrived in Kalm only pushed him into further strain. The problem in particular he was having was keeping his hands – and other things – to himself, when the girl continued to insist on sleeping in the same bed with him for security. He wasn't about to scare her again, but his patience was wearing thin, and he knew he couldn't just go off on a drinking binge when he was supposed to be watching her.

Therefore, he had concluded when Cid and Shera left he had a very serious problem on his hands. Well, not just his hands, but he preferred not to be very specific regarding some things.

Reno had no idea how to deal with his predicament. There was no Rude to offer advice – or better yet, bail him out – and he certainly couldn't just throw Xoe out of the room into the cold, so to speak. The Turk was growing more frustrated and sullen by the hour, and having to face the problem was only making it worse.

In his too-sober opinion, anyway.

* * *

For Xoe's part, as she curled into the chair as quietly as possible, she wasn't so much hurt that Reno had snapped at her, but scared that she was doing something to him again, like when she made his headache worse. The fear that she couldn't control herself grew slowly within her, and a part of her was slightly relieved to be away from the redhead.

"_If I'm not near him, I can't hurt him,"_ she reasoned, staring unseeing at the words on the page. She hadn't seen Vincent since that night, and wasn't sure she wanted to anyway – the advice he might give frightened her, and she wasn't going to face it if she had to.

"_But I can't hide here forever," _Xoe chastised herself, knowing it to be all-too true. Despite Tseng's best efforts, information was sure to leak out somewhere, and the thought of leaving Reno and going away, or possibly hurting him herself in a freak accident, terrified her even more than she thought it could. Deciding to just stay away from the Turk for a while and see how he acted, she sighed heavily and rested the back of her head on the chair, almost wishing she was child-like again, not knowing the many things she had come to learn.

* * *

"Sonuva-mother-fucking-_bitch_!" Reno shouted violently later that evening stringing the words together so fast they were almost unintelligible. The poor redhead, in a sudden fit of anger, had slammed the door onto his hand and almost broken his knuckles. Glaring down at his limb, he wasn't sure he _hadn't_ broken something, and winced when he tried to flex it.

"Are you all right?" Xoe demanded, running up the stairs and stopping a few feet away from Reno.

"Not really," he grumbled. "Caught my goddamn hand in the fucking door…_fuck_ me, it hurts!" he growled, the curses coming out before he could think about them to stop. A silence settled over them, interrupted by his swearing, but he quickly realized that Xoe wasn't doing what he had thought she would do – what she had done in the past. She wasn't moving forward to look at it, or bandage it, or generally cuddle him in the way he was forced to admit he liked.

She wasn't doing anything of the sort.

Instead, she was standing completely still at the head of the stairs, staring at his hand in fear, as if she was afraid it would hurt her.

"Hey, could you –" Reno began, taking a step forward, but she backpedaled so fast she almost down the stairs.

"I'm sure it's fine," she babbled nervously, already halfway down the stairs. "And you know more about injuries!"

Reno stared after her in disbelief, unsure why she had acted the way she had and not liking it. For one thing, he missed the cuddling. And for another, he was at a lost at how to fix himself up with only one hand working. He had gotten hurt worse, for sure, but was always able to come limping back to the Turks, where Rude silently bandaged him, occasionally giving him reprimanding looks – unless his partner was getting bandaged as well, which was more often than not. Elena would bitch at him for bleeding all over the floor, and Tseng would only shake his head before ordering to know if he was successful or not.

Here, in this place, Reno was on his own, a feeling he had never minded until he learned what it really meant.

Muttering under his breath obscenities learned during his adventures, he stalked back into the bathroom – whose door had so offended the Turk – to see if he could find any bandages, deciding to deal with Xoe later. If at all, seeing how she wouldn't come near him.

* * *

"Shinra didn't believe us," Elena said sharply, sitting in the chair with the other two remaining Turks. Tseng, by the door, glanced at them solemnly, while Rude, in a chair opposite Elena, remained silent as usual.

"Of course he didn't. He doesn't trust us," the lead Turk said calmly, having no fear Rufus would overhear their conversations. The Turk had personally ensured the room was bug-free, as well as camera-free, before they began to speak.

"Damn it. Damn Shinra," the blond woman swore emotionlessly, glaring at the wall. They had stopped referring to Shinra as 'sir' – at least behind his back – for some time now, and the words came all-too easily for her liking. "I wish I knew what he was planning on doing!"

"I told you both everything I know," Tseng informed them. "We can't do anything more than wait and keep an eye on him. Vincent is there, keeping an eye on Reno, I'm sure. It falls to us to ensure Shinra doesn't catch on – at least, not too soon."

"And what will we do when he does?" Rude asked quietly, surprising his comrades.

"What can he do?" the man replied, just as quietly. "We're the Turks – the finest, the elite, the best of the best. There isn't anyone that can match us – now that the Remnants are gone. I wouldn't put it past Shinra to try something, but he knows he can't exterminate us so easily."

"So, we run?" Elena asked, but he shook his head.

"Of course not – we continue as if we believed our own lie."

"Delusional," Rude commented. "He'll think we're in shock?"

"I doubt it," Tseng snorted, which was rare for him. "However, I do think it will buy us some time."

"Until _what_?" Elena pressed. "I mean, what's supposed to happen? They can't hide forever, and we'll have to finish this sooner or later."

"I don't know what we're waiting for," their leader admitted calmly. "I do know, though, that something is coming."

"The calm before the storm," the bald Turk nodded. "It should be interesting."

* * *

"Hm, that solves one problem for tonight," Reno grunted softly, entering the library to see Xoe curled on the loveseat, a blanket falling off her onto the floor. He dropped to a crouch beside her and pulled the blanket back over her, making sure it was secure, before bouncing up again and peering at her critically for a long moment.

"Am I interrupting something?" a voice asked dryly, and Reno barely caught himself before falling onto Xoe from surprise.

"Would you stop that?" the Turk hissed, whirling around with a glare on his face.

"What happened?" Vincent demanded, noticing Reno's hand easily. The man strode into the kitchen, giving Reno no choice but to follow him, and allowed himself a wry smile – hidden behind his cloak – at seeing Reno carefully shut the door to the library before striding over to Vincent in aggravation.

"I slammed my hand in the door," the redhead said through a clenched jaw, glaring at the man. "And what the fuck're you doing here, anyway?"

"Making sure nothing is wrong," Vincent told him, meeting the glare with a cool stare that made Reno gulp convulsively.

"And what do you care?"

"It's none of your business," the man replied, his voice just as emotionless as his stare. "Why is she on the couch?"

"Because she…I guess she fell asleep there," Reno said, catching himself before he revealed her strange behavior. Vincent merely watched him without expression, and Reno opened his mouth against his will before snapping it shut.

"No need to explain – I'm sure I can guess," Vincent said, and the Turk thought for a moment the man sounded angry, but quickly dismissed the thought.

"Hey, I didn't do _nothin'_!" he protested, almost too-loudly, but Vincent only favored him with a look before turning away. "Hey, you're just gonna leave?" the redhead demanded, but Vincent ignored him for a moment before moving his shoulders in what barely resembled a shrug.

"I have no further need to remain," he said simply, before leaving in a whirl of black and red. Reno's jaw hung open, impressed despite himself, before he snapped it shut and glared at nothing.

"Stupid asshole," Reno grunted, before looking around furtively to make sure Vincent wasn't going to reappear and kick his ass. Frowning to himself, the redhead shook his head to clear it before stomping up the stairs, stopping abruptly and tiptoeing shamefaced the rest of the way.

* * *

"Mmm…_ow_!" Xoe moaned, trying to turn her head and finding it locked into place. Slowly adjusting herself, she blinked rapidly and looked around groggily, before remembering where she had fallen asleep. Stretching lazily, she gave herself another minute to yawn loudly before getting to her feet and trying to straighten her hair out in vain. Shaking her head, she stepped out of the room and began to head up the stairs before noises reached her ears. Pausing, she peeked into the kitchen, to discover Reno frantically hopping around the kitchen to find a fire extinguisher as the burner exploded into flames.

"Ack!" the Turk yelped, the sleeve of his jacket catching on fire, and he shook it crazily. Xoe watched for another moment, slightly amused, before calmly picking up the fire extinguisher – which was right by the door – and spraying its contents on top of the stove.

"There," she said with a grin, setting it back down. "All better."

"Thanks," Reno sighed gratefully, rubbing his head awkwardly. "I was just trying to make some eggs…you guys make it look so easy."

"It is," Xoe shrugged, before heading back towards the door. "I have to get dressed."

"Want to go out for breakfast?" he asked eagerly, watching her still back hopefully. His face fell a moment later when she shook her head.

"Not really."

* * *

Xoe sighed to herself as she stripped in the bathroom, turning on the shower and waiting until the water turned hot before stepping into it. Pulling the curtain shut, she tipped her head back and relaxed as the steam rose around her, welcoming the scalding heat.

"_I don't want to hurt him," _she reasoned, reaching for shampoo. _"If I stay away, maybe he'll go back to normal."_

Something told her there was another reason Reno was acting strange, but she couldn't figure out the problem, and left it at that.

* * *

"I gotta get out of here," Reno muttered, hearing the shower going. He struggled with the idea for a few minutes, but jumped to his feet when the memory of Xoe by the stream rushed back to him. "That's it!" he yelped, ignoring the burnt mess he had to call breakfast. "I need a break!"

The redhead escaped from the house seconds later, slamming the door behind him. He felt a twinge of guilt, as well as embarrassment, but knew he had to be alone for a few hours before he did something he would regret.

* * *

"Reno?" Xoe called, returning to the kitchen a second time. The mess on the table lay untouched and cold, and a worried look began to grow on his face. Coming downstairs and finding the Turk gone, she had thought he had hidden somewhere, but there was no trace of him.

"_Did something happen?"_ she wondered, her stomach twisting itself into knots. Looking around, growing close to panic, she realized his tazer was nowhere to be found, which only heightened her fears. She whirled towards the door, determined to find him, and gasped when a crimson figure blocked her way.

"There's no need to go after him," Vincent informed her calmly, placing a hand on her shoulder and guiding her into a chair. "Reno merely needed a…break. He'll be back in a bit."

"Really?" she asked in obvious relief, and Vincent inclined his head slightly. The man was privately irritated that the Turk had left without a word to the young woman he was supposed to be guarding – he wasn't even supposed to leave to begin with – and decided to have a discussion with Reno regarding his mistake later in the evening.

"I'm assuming Reno made this mess," he said in disgust, taking in the disgusting food in a glance. "And you haven't eaten?"

"Not yet," she replied, shaking her head.

"Let's go eat something, then," Vincent said, and she stared at him in surprise. It sounded more like an order, but the fact that he had said anything at all caught her off guard. "I haven't eaten either," he informed her sternly.

"I wasn't…wasn't sure you ate," she ventured to say, following him out the door. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, something like amusement in his expression, but she missed it.

"I generally dislike company."

"I can tell," she offered, her tone sounding like she was trying to compliment him. He shook his head, in definite amusement, but declined to say anything to that.

* * *

Vincent managed to keep Xoe out of the house for the entire day, to his surprise, finding it interesting to watch her interact with new surroundings. However, it only reminded him that she wasn't human, and was a potential threat to him and the others if anything happened concerning Shinra.

"How late is it?" she asked, glancing at the sky. The sun was beginning to set, and Vincent merely shrugged. "Do you think Reno's home by now?" she pressed, having asked about the redhead almost once an hour since they left, and Vincent refused to answer every time.

"Probably," he said, surprising her into silence. "I'll take you home now. Don't go out by yourself, either," he ordered, and she nodded dutifully. Following the red-cloaked man, she kept silent the rest of the way back to the house, not wanting to annoy him. It didn't take very long, and Vincent sighed to himself in relief when he saw a light was on, and he sensed Reno's presence inside.

"Thanks for taking me around town, Vincent," Xoe said, smiling briefly at him in the near-darkness. "And for helping me out."

"Go inside, before it gets any later," he said, and she grinned before heading into the house without another word. "Hmph," he muttered to himself, turning around and using the rooftops to return to his own apartment. "I've turned into a babysitter."

Remembering his promise to himself about Reno, Vincent changed direction and headed back towards the house, deciding to wait until the redhead was alone before confronting him.

* * *

"Where were you?" Reno asked, glancing up from a paper. He hadn't been home that long anyway, and was positive Vincent had dropped by for a visit.

"Out with Vincent," Xoe said with a shrug, confirming his suspicions. "Where did you go?"

"For breakfast," he muttered. "It took a while."

"How was your day?" she asked suddenly, sitting down. Peering at her, Reno thought she seemed like her old self, when she drove him insane with questions, and realized it was a façade.

"Boring," he admitted, suffering from a hangover. "And how was Mr. Gloom-'n-Doom? Cheerful as usual?"

"Actually, he was really interesting," Xoe told him. "I pried some stories out of him, about before Sephiroth and all. I don't think he minded too much," she added thoughtfully, and Reno snorted.

"If he had minded, he wouldn't have said a word," he informed her, getting to his feet. "I gotta go lay down – the light's killing me. 'Night."

"Good night, Reno," Xoe called after him, sighing to herself and glancing at the bookcase. "Guess it's you and me," she said, addressing the novel she had begun.

* * *

Reno was indeed surprised by Vincent late that night, and wasn't able to sleep for several days afterward. The redhead preferred not to dwell on the memory, and instead tried to just remember his promise about not leaving Xoe alone.

It most definitely was not a pleasant few days for the poor Turk. Having gotten stinking drunk helped slightly, but being scared by Vincent worked even better, and he was able to keep himself under control around Xoe, to his relief. And to her delight, since she was astonished when Reno apologized the next morning and dug out several jigsaw puzzles to work on together.

It was a peaceful few days, which would soon be broken.

* * *

Some angst, loads of language from yours truly. Please review. And I warn you all now - things are only going to get worse.


	14. Report XIV

Summery; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

After over two years, this story has finally reached completion! My deepest apologies, and thanks, to those who patiently waited for this final chapter. I do feel it was best for me to wait, instead of rushing a half-baked chapter, and I feel this is what I wanted for this story. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Congrats on reaching the end with me!

* * *

Xoe had thought she had been careful, but the peace that had wrapped itself around the house like a cocoon for the past four days was shattered as a searing pain struck her, knocking the breath out of her and forced her to the floor.

"Xoe? What the hell?" Reno asked frantically, crouching next to her, but afraid to touch her. She cried out in pain and curled into a fetal position, pain clouding her eyes.

"It…hurts…" she whimpered, trying to breath.

"What does? Everything?" he guessed, gently putting his hand on her shoulder. When there was no reaction from that, he correctly assumed it was from the inside and gathered her to him, at a loss for what else to do. "What the hell happened?" he demanded to no one in particular. He hadn't sensed anything, and Xoe was suddenly on the floor in pain, calm to wounded in a split-second.

"It's like…the water…" Xoe gasped, clutching his jacket as if it was a life support. "It…hurts so bad…Reno…help…"

"It's all right, it'll be over soon," he promised, hoping his words were true as he tried to soothe her. He held her tightly to him for several long minutes when, to his relief, the pain apparently began to subside. "Is it better now?" he asked, not sure what else to say.

"Yes," Xoe told him, nodding weakly. She felt like her bones had been on fire, and somehow it felt like the pain was lurking somewhere nearby, waiting for another chance. She didn't tell Reno that, however, and simply clutched him for comfort. "I'm all right…it died back down. I don't know where it came from."

"I don't either, but I have a feeling it's not a good thing," Reno said grimly, setting her down on the couch for the moment. "Something's going on," he muttered, pacing the small room several times while his mind raced furiously. He wanted to go and look around for something – a trigger of some kind – but knew he couldn't leave Xoe, or take her with him. He was saved the trouble of debating any longer, however, when he heard the front door bang open.

"_Shit!"_ he thought. He grabbed Xoe up and jumped out the window of the room, landing in the streets and heading towards Vincent's flat without bothering to look behind him. He sensed danger, and that was all he needed. Xoe remained silent, still pale from the pain before, but something in her eyes appeared odd. Reno didn't notice, too busy escaping, and only concentrated on reaching the strange man before their enemy reached them.

* * *

"What do you want?" Vincent demanded, opening the door to find a panting Reno, who was holding Xoe.

"Someone…after us…" he managed, as Xoe slid out of his arms to her feet. Vincent immediately noticed her eyes, but turned his attention sharply to Reno at those words.

"After you?" he repeated. Without another word, he hauled them inside and shut the door, locking it securely and crossing his arms sternly. "Who?"

"Dunno…took off before they found us," Reno told him, recovering slightly. "The front door banged open, and I sensed danger. That was it – I wasn't gonna stick around to see who the hell didn't bother knocking!" he added defensively, but Vincent didn't say anything about that.

"What happened to you?" the man asked Xoe, who looked slightly surprised, but shook her head. Reno's attention was turned back to her with Vincent's question, and he finally noticed her eyes as well – instead of the usual green, her pupil was a black swirl in a pool of green that was deepening with each moment.

"Something hit me," she said, trying to explain and apparently unaware that anything odd was going on to her. "Like…I don't know. Something caused me so much pain, I thought I was going to die," she admitted. "I was fine, and then the next thing I knew…"

"Exposure," Vincent said grimly, and continued when Reno opened his mouth to ask. "The geostigma. I thought it had been dormant for too long. And the Meteor…" He trailed off, almost as if he was unwilling to say what he was thinking.

"What _about_ the fucking Meteor?" Reno demanded, slightly panicked at this point.

"You both know what she is – exposure to the Meteor could cause her to become unstable," Vincent said bluntly, and Xoe's eyes widened – not with shock, but more like sudden understanding. "I can only think that Shinra has discovered where you were, and now he's going to follow you to the most likely place – here."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Reno muttered, beginning to pace again. He couldn't think of anything else to do, and it was going to drive him crazy if it lasted much longer. "What the fuck are we gonna do?" he demanded, turning to Vincent almost pleadingly.

"Stay here," Vincent replied calmly. "He won't be able to harm you here, I promise. I have certain…defenses in this building. And Shinra will be by himself."

"Unless he decides to drag the others along with him," Reno argued. All three knew he meant the other Turks, his former comrades, and his argument was highly likely. Vincent was the only who remained calm when a loud explosion was heard, and when they turned to him he remained impassive.

"I said I had defenses here," he explained calmly, and Reno shook his head to clear it of the ringing in his ears.

"Are you sure we should stay here?" Reno demanded. Vincent ignored him, and turned to Xoe as if the world wasn't going to hell around them.

"You need to leave," he informed her, and Reno was so pissed he was temporarily speechless.

"I know," Xoe said softly, nodding her acceptance. Reno stomped forward, but she put her hand on his chest lightly. "Just until Shinra's gone," she assured him, the lie slipping from her easily. "It'll go easier on the two of you if I'm nowhere to be found," she said, but he shook his head stubbornly.

"You're not going off on your own."

"She has to," Vincent said sharply, folding his arms underneath his cloak. "Or else Shinra is going to kill us all. Stop acting like a child, Reno, and think like a Turk!"

"That's all I've ever done!" he snapped back, but the rest of his words were lost to a deafening explosion right outside the door.

"It's too late," Vincent hissed, as Xoe backed up towards the window, Reno remaining in front of her. The Turk swore as Shinra kicked the door down, a weapon tingling with electricity in his hands.

"I'm impressed, Vincent," the man said calmly, as if nothing out of the ordinary was occurring. "Most of those defenses are quite advanced. They were quite difficult to break through."

"What do you want, Shinra?" Vincent demanded unnecessarily. The man laughed, a little too shrilly for their liking, and shook his head.

"As if that was ever a question," he remarked, his gaze sliding over the room and resting on Xoe. "I'm here for the fragment. She'll come with me, and I'll release Reno from the Turks. It will be as if he never existed – a rather generous offer, don't you think?" he asked, and Reno snorted.

"Where're the others?" he growled, and Shinra cocked an eyebrow his way.

"Where they are needed," he replied evasively, and shifted the weapon impatiently in his hands. "Come now, Xoe, it must be obvious what the answer is. If not…" He trailed off calmly, and she winced.

Vincent glanced back at her, and an unspoken decision seemed to pass between them. In the next instant, Vincent flashed to the other side of the room, distracting Shinra while Xoe pushed Reno to the ground.

"What the –!" Reno managed, cut off when Shinra's weapon exploded in his hands, aimed Reno and Xoe's way. Vincent tackled Shinra, and Xoe flipped out of the window, disappearing from the room.

"Damn it!" Shinra yelled, rushing to the window and recovering his sense after a second. "It doesn't matter, I have the others waiting with orders to seek her out if she escaped my grasp," he informed them, striding towards the door. Reno lunged at his ex-boss, but Vincent held him back.

"Why didn't ya let me kill him?" Reno growled, pulling free from Vincent's grasp once Shinra was gone. "I could've ended it!"

"It wouldn't have done any good," Vincent told him, but Reno was already striding from the room. "Where are you going?" he demanded, though he already knew the answer.

"Where you think I am," the redhead snarled, and would have slammed the door behind him if it hadn't been laying on the floor in pieces.

"Damn it," Vincent swore softly, going to the window. He saw the prints in the dirt where Xoe had landed, but after that there was no trace of which direction she had gone. He debated with himself quickly before slamming the window shut.

* * *

Xoe sensed, rather than heard, someone behind her, and she picked up speed as best she could. Vincent's words had made her realize what her fate was, and that seemed to unlock countless memories in her mind. A complete library, of sorts, of past events concerning Jenova and Sephiroth, and then the three brothers – her brothers, she supposed, but didn't dwell on the thought.

"Hold!" a voice shouted, but she paid no heed to it. Gasping for air, she dodged a low tree limb and kept moving, the pounding of her heart keeping time with the pounding of her boots on the dirt beneath her feet.

"Stop, or we'll fire!" another person warned her, and this threat was not an empty one. Xoe yelped when gunfire erupted behind her, and fell the forest floor in an effort to avoid any bullets. Something 'pinged' on the bark beside her, and she winced at how close it was.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar yell behind her as well, and her head shot up when sounds of a brawl broke out.

"Reno?" she murmured to herself, and shook her head. "That idiot," she added, tears filling her eyes. They soon disappeared, however, when she heard him yell in pain, and narrowed her eyes.

* * *

"Damn it!" Reno groaned, having been punched to the ground by Rude, while Elena had a foot on his chest, gun pointed at his head. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" he demanded, and Tseng sighed.

"Did you really think we were with Shinra? You idiot," he muttered. "If we had managed to reach her first, we were going to bring her back to Vincent. He knew."

"Where's Shinra?" Elena demanded, and Reno winced when she stomped on him.

"Hey! I don't know! He'd be in hell if Vincent hadn't held me back," he added with a growl in his throat, and Tseng considered this.

"He could very well be –"

"Alive, well, and present, thank you," Shinra interrupted coolly, and the Turks' gazes all focused on their boss as he approached them, a sardonic smirk on his face. "So nice to know you're all so loyal," he added conversationally, and Tseng's eyes narrowed defensively.

"Sir, we were –"

"Plotting against me? I've known ever since you let Reno escape," he informed them, moving closer. They could see contempt in his eyes, as well as something else – and they knew their boss had gone past the point of no return.

Shinra's gaze snapped in another direction as noises approached them, and Xoe appeared from the foliage, her eyes wide. "Lovely," he remarked, pointing the weapon at her. "Now, if you'd rather not come with me, my previous offer is null and void. I'm simply going to kill you now."

"No!" Reno shouted, as the weapon went off. They saw the blast reach her – and then it seemed to dissipate. Xoe's eyes were the same strange color they had been last time Shinra had attacked her, and she glared at him.

"Hm, her powers are surfacing again," Shinra said thoughtfully. "And no Reno to save her. What a shame," he continued, lowering his weapon. Elena pulled Reno to his feet, a bit reluctantly stepping aside for him, and the Turks stood together defensively.

"What's going on?" the female Turk hissed to Tseng, who murmured back to them after a minute.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, to their shock. Shinra began to approach the Turks calmly, while Xoe remained still nearby.

"I'm disappointed," he informed them, his eyes dangerously calm. "You were all trained by my father, and trained to serve the Shinra name alone. It appears that you now serve only your own interests. That's a dangerous mistake in this business."

"Scatter!" Tseng ordered, as Shinra suddenly raised the weapon to face them. The Turks dived aside, and Shinra's aim followed one particular Turk in particular.

"Reno!" Xoe shrieked, and complete silence followed the discharge.

* * *

"Are we alive?" Elena asked, her head finally clearing. Looking around, she saw Shinra on the ground, face-up and the weapon smoking in his hand. Rude knelt unsteadily, and looked around for his shades in shock.

"I think," Tseng said sharply. "Where's Reno?"

"He's…" Rude began, but couldn't finish when he saw his best friend.

"Shit," Elena breathed, getting to her feet with the help of a sturdy limb. "Reno, are you…" she started, and backed off when she met his cold stare.

"I'm fine," he said coldly, before looking down at the young woman in his arms. Her eyes were empty, and blood trickled from her mouth. It pooled around Reno's knees, and her limp body rested the way only the dead could.

"Reno…" Rude called to him quietly, crouching beside his friend, but was ignored. They were surprised at the depths of sorrow in the young man's eyes as he gazed at the lifeless body in his arms.

"Where's Shinra?" he suddenly asked, his head raising and his voice dangerously quiet. Rude pointed without a word, none of the Turks wanting to get in the way of their broken-hearted comrade. "He better be alive," Reno growled, laying Xoe's body down gently and stalking over to his old boss.

To his delight, Shinra groaned when kicked in the side, and Reno hauled him to his feet by his collar.

"You're going to wish you were dead, trust me," he hissed, his nose touching the other man's. Shinra opened his eyes to see Reno's boring into his, and managed to smirk.

"So…it's over."

"Over for you? Not quiet yet," the Turk informed him grimly, and casually snapped his arm, leaving it hanging in two broken pieces at his side. Shinra protested weakly, but no one made a move to help him.

"Drop him," Vincent ordered, stalking forward. His eyes rested briefly, almost sadly, on Xoe's body before returning sternly to the scene before him. "I said, _drop him_," he repeated, and Reno obeyed against his will.

"Vincent…"

"There'll be time enough for vengeance," the man told him calmly, peering unsympathetically at the whimpering Shinra. "Trust me."

"Reno, something's happening," Elena said suddenly, and the two men turned quickly to see pyreflies dancing around Xoe's body.

"What the fuck now?" Reno demanded, rushing over and going to cradle her in his arms. To his dismay, her body was fading before their eyes, and became intangible. "No…" he moaned painfully, as the last of Xoe disappeared into the air, the pyreflies fading into the woods as well.

"Come on," Rude said quietly, placing his hand on the young man's shoulder.

* * *

"Is he dead yet?" Elena asked disinterestedly, looking up from the paper when Tseng entered the room. They had returned to their base, and to her personal distaste, Shinra had been brought as well.

"I think so," the head Turk said, almost tiredly, and took a seat. "I've never seen so much rage before," he told her after a long pause. "So much rage…he's dangerous," he continued, hanging his head despondently.

"What're we going to do?" she asked after a minute. "I mean, if…"

"What can we do?" he replied in defeat. "Nothing."

"Vincent's here," Rude informed them suddenly, striding into the room. "He wants to see Reno outside. Now."

"You can tell him that," Tseng agreed, rubbing his eyes. "Maybe Vincent can talk some sense into him…what does he want?" he asked abruptly, before Rude stepped from the room.

"I don't know," the shaded man admitted, before leaving.

"Let's go see for ourselves," Elena decided, pulling Tseng to his feet.

* * *

"What the fuck do you want?" Reno demanded, loping down the stairs to ground level, seeing Vincent waiting patiently at the bottom of the stairs.

"I received some news last night," he said calmly, peering intently at the Turk. "News that surprised me quite a bit. I think you'll be interested."

"_What_?" Reno asked testily, as the other three Turks gathered by the door curiously. It had been a week since they had seen Vincent, and three since Reno had brought Shinra back to the base, seeking vengeance.

"Reno?" a voice asked cautiously, and an electric shock ran down his spine, bolting him to the ground.

"Wh…what…"

"She was purified," Vincent informed him, as Xoe stepped out from behind the cloaked man, dressed in a sea-blue top and black trousers and shoes. "I found her at the pool last night," he continued, seeing that Reno was at a loss for words.

"I made it back," she said softly, smiling gently at him as her hair hung down her back in loose waves. "I promised," she added, and Reno flashed back to seconds before the blast.

* * *

"_I'll never leave you," she had whispered, as she flashed in front of him to block the blast. After that, it was nothing but deafening silence and white lights before his eyes…_

"Xoe…" he managed weakly, and the Turks were stunned – again – to see tears in Reno's eyes. "You…are very weird," he said finally, a weak laugh accompanying his words.

"I know," she agreed, her eyes shining with unshed tears. Before he could say anything else, Xoe rushed into his arms, almost knocking him off his feet.

"You stupid, stupid girl," he whispered into her hair, holding her to him tightly. Vincent looked away, almost seeming embarrassed, and narrowed his eyes when the three other Turks waved gratefully at him. He nodded, and left before anyone else could involve him further.

"I love you, Reno," she mumbled into his shirt, and he pulled her chin up to look into her eyes.

"You have no idea how fucking messed up I was," he complained, before kissing her soundly on the lips.

* * *

And there we are. Executed with my usual flair for the dramatic. I needed a happy ending, of course.

* * *


End file.
